“Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore,” was said by a great character some time ago, but this quote also applies to the to Price family (Fleming). For this, Dorothy is sort of Rachel Price and Toto is like her siblings, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May. Kansas, in this case, is actually Georgia and Oz is the Congo. So what this analogy is saying is that The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is basically The Wizard of Oz just ever so slightly longer. In the story of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is forever changed from her actions and experiences in Oz into a better person. While in the Congos, Rachel from the The Poisonwood Bible is morally changed from being bad to downright lousy. This Price sister represents America in the story of
…show more content…
The audience can see how Rachel’s mindset and moral standing from the start of The Poisonwood Bible. When the Price family got off the plane in the Congo, Rachel’s first comment is “aren’t you glad you use Dial? Don’t you wish everybody did?” (Kingsolver, 23) This statement alone has a few negative connotations with it. The audience can start to gain the type of person Rachel was before the trip to the Congo. Through Rachel’s eye, the audience sees distorted version of reality that she truly believe everyone should live and act. Dial, by being an American product, show how Rachel thinks the people of Congo are of a lower staying then her, because they do not have the same access to items as she did back in America. Items such as soap or cooking pans are seen as simple, ordinary by people who are from a western country. While in the eyes as the Congolese, they are a luxury and can be replaced with other objects such as oils and boiled water for a bath and bowl shaped pieces of metal for pans. Despite not have modern products like the “civilized,” parts of the world, they made a life for themselves and sometimes had more than enough to feed their families. They were living their lives and they were okay with what they had. Rachel is able to taste just a little bit of the culture they to give to her. She threw it back at them by judging the way the Congolese smell. The small comment of the smell of the person from Rachel can really be seen as racist. The reason is that she never thought about taking into consideration of how privilege she is compared to the people of this country. Comments like these display how Americans felt about other countries. No contemplation or thought were put into why these people were not like Americans. This shows the theme of America being negligent towards the topics like race. Rachel is literally showing how American she is. A reader should give her a benefit of the doubt. This is the first time
The audience can see how Rachel’s mindset and moral standing from the start of The Poisonwood Bible. When the Price family got off the plane in the Congo, Rachel’s first comment is “aren’t you glad you use Dial? Don’t you wish everybody did?” (Kingsolver, 23) This statement alone has a few negative connotations with it. The audience can start to gain the type of person Rachel was before the trip to the Congo. Through Rachel’s eye, the audience sees distorted version of reality that she truly believe everyone should live and act. Dial, by being an American product, show how Rachel thinks the people of Congo are of a lower staying then her, because they do not have the same access to items as she did back in America. Items such as soap or cooking pans are seen as simple, ordinary by people who are from a western country. While in the eyes as the Congolese, they are a luxury and can be replaced with other objects such as oils and boiled water for a bath and bowl shaped pieces of metal for pans. Despite not have modern products like the “civilized,” parts of the world, they made a life for themselves and sometimes had more than enough to feed their families. They were living their lives and they were okay with what they had. Rachel is able to taste just a little bit of the culture they to give to her. She threw it back at them by judging the way the Congolese smell. The small comment of the smell of the person from Rachel can really be seen as racist. The reason is that she never thought about taking into consideration of how privilege she is compared to the people of this country. Comments like these display how Americans felt about other countries. No contemplation or thought were put into why these people were not like Americans. This shows the theme of America being negligent towards the topics like race. Rachel is literally showing how American she is. A reader should give her a benefit of the doubt. This is the first time