"I also learned from Nelson that we are hosting seven lepers every Sunday, plus two men who have done the thing that is permanently unforgiven by the local gods...We seem to be the chuch for the Lost of Cause, which is not so far afield from what Jesus himself was operating in his time." (pp.212)
11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- Matthew 11:9-13 (Bible NIV)
It is also super disappointing to see that Mr. Price is a big hypocrite. A man who knows the Bible inside and out and preaches it and knows that the second most important commandment is to love ones neighbor as thyself, he cant love Tata Ndu. would be considered 'sick' in the means of Christianity since he is not 'saved', yet Nathan holds bitterness and that stops him from acting like Jesus and helping the sick and loving him as himself. Makes me pretty mad.
Monday, 13 June 2011
Mistake
At some point or another, everyone seems to have a problem with Nathan. The husband and father roles have diminished out of sight due to his diligent focus on saving the Lord's lost sheep.
Orleanna has serious regrets of marrying him. She seems SO miserable, but cant break off her marriage because a)her children b)their religion c)he\s the provider and d)he's crazy
"What did I have? No money, that's for sure. No influence, no friends I could call upon in that place, no way to overrule the powers that governed our lives. This is not a new story: i was an inferior force." pp. 193.
Before i said how we see more of Orleannas perspective at the beginning of each chapter, and through her own words and the observations of her children, she hates being in the Congo and she hates being with Nathan, whom she has to love for obligatory reasons. Learning WHY she had married him and how he changed due to the army was finally a relief.
This relationship she has with her husband reminds me a loott of somone i know, whose name I won't disclose though, obviously. I just know that for a while she almost wanted to break things off with him because he was soo not involved in the family-with her or the kids- but rather lived like a hobbit, reading his Bible all the time, working all the time, etc. etc. She couldnt leave him though, for the sake of money and her kids. Though they didnt have much of a fancy for him either.
Orleanna has serious regrets of marrying him. She seems SO miserable, but cant break off her marriage because a)her children b)their religion c)he\s the provider and d)he's crazy
"What did I have? No money, that's for sure. No influence, no friends I could call upon in that place, no way to overrule the powers that governed our lives. This is not a new story: i was an inferior force." pp. 193.
Before i said how we see more of Orleannas perspective at the beginning of each chapter, and through her own words and the observations of her children, she hates being in the Congo and she hates being with Nathan, whom she has to love for obligatory reasons. Learning WHY she had married him and how he changed due to the army was finally a relief.
This relationship she has with her husband reminds me a loott of somone i know, whose name I won't disclose though, obviously. I just know that for a while she almost wanted to break things off with him because he was soo not involved in the family-with her or the kids- but rather lived like a hobbit, reading his Bible all the time, working all the time, etc. etc. She couldnt leave him though, for the sake of money and her kids. Though they didnt have much of a fancy for him either.
Sunday, 12 June 2011
When Flipping into the first page of each chapter, the writer, Kingsolver, repeatedly uses versus from different books from the bible like the "book of genesis" or "book of the Revelation" which instantly gives the reader an idea of how the theme would be related to religious views.
"And God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, ad replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."Genesis 1:28
The significance and purpose of the Price family in Congo is the spreading of Christianity. I think the significance and usage of the Biblical allusion by the writer is to let us have a deeper understanding of the characters, and experience how a religious person views the world for instance, the protagonist's husband Nathan Price, a Strong pantheism which is really into his religious views of how all nature are a part of God, coming to Congo bringing all of their family members to spread their religious view which caused the protagonist Orleanna Price to regret marrying this insane pantheism. Overall, the way that the writer relates the bible to the character's thinking really helped me as a reader have an better insight of each character's intentions and thoughts.
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Change in Character
Throughout the time that Mr.Price and Leah were working on their garden I thought that they both underwent a character change. When they first planted the seeds they refused to accept the help of Mama Tataba. This tells us that they think the 'Western' way of doing things is the best when in reality they don't understand that if their way of gardening worked than the locals would be doing it that way instead. When the early rains wash out their seeds is when they begin to change. They realise that the Congolese people may not be as backward as they first suspected.
But that's probably pretty obvious so this is when the gears really started moving and this is my deep part of my blog entry (well kinda deep anyway :) ). What if....wait for it....the garden represents their whole mission in the Congo. If the flat garden represents the Prices' way of life and the bumpy garden represents the Congolese way of life. If you look at it that way than you have to question the whole reason for the Price family to be there. The whole Christian way of life may be perfect for Western countries but and at the same time be absolute nonsense for African nations the same way the flat garden didn't work in the Congo. So basically I think I'm just trying to show how the way Mr.Price refused to take Mama'a advice can be compared to Christianities love of trying to fit into every society even if it obviously has no business being there.
I hope this makes sense if not let me know and I will attempt to clarify my idea. As well I apologize if I offended anybody by kinda hatin on Christianity, I was just trying to get my point accross. :{ ) <that's a moustache smiley face if anyone's wondering
But that's probably pretty obvious so this is when the gears really started moving and this is my deep part of my blog entry (well kinda deep anyway :) ). What if....wait for it....the garden represents their whole mission in the Congo. If the flat garden represents the Prices' way of life and the bumpy garden represents the Congolese way of life. If you look at it that way than you have to question the whole reason for the Price family to be there. The whole Christian way of life may be perfect for Western countries but and at the same time be absolute nonsense for African nations the same way the flat garden didn't work in the Congo. So basically I think I'm just trying to show how the way Mr.Price refused to take Mama'a advice can be compared to Christianities love of trying to fit into every society even if it obviously has no business being there.
I hope this makes sense if not let me know and I will attempt to clarify my idea. As well I apologize if I offended anybody by kinda hatin on Christianity, I was just trying to get my point accross. :{ ) <that's a moustache smiley face if anyone's wondering
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Leah has layers
As much as many of the Price family members despise living in the Congo, it had to be some time or another until someone discovered a blessing of living there. Leah has the first major epiphany.
This comes through knowing her newly acquainted friend, Pascal, who was introduced into her life by her little sister, Ruth May, through the simpleton game of Mother May I.
Despite their language barrier, they used creative hand gestures to help understand one another. Over the course of a few weeks, simply being with one another helped each realize the others' culture and lifestyle better. For Leah, this was quite an eye-opening experience.
"It struck me what a wide world of difference there was between our sort of games-"Mother May I?", "Hide and Seek"- and his: "Find Food", "Recognize Poisonwood", "Build a House". And here he was a boy no older than eight or nine."
....
"For the first time ever I felt a sitrring of anger against my father for making me a white preacher's child from Georgia....My embarrassment ran scarlet and deep, hidden under my clothes." (pp.114-115)
This is quite the powerful passage from a first person point-of-view of Leah. Note at the end she says her embarrassment was hidden under her clothes. The significance of clothing being mentioned has to do with how blessed she is, and now knows she is. Pascal, after all, owns only a pair of khaki's. Clothing seems to run as an extended symbol throughout the novel, displaying wealth and status.
This comes through knowing her newly acquainted friend, Pascal, who was introduced into her life by her little sister, Ruth May, through the simpleton game of Mother May I.
Despite their language barrier, they used creative hand gestures to help understand one another. Over the course of a few weeks, simply being with one another helped each realize the others' culture and lifestyle better. For Leah, this was quite an eye-opening experience.
"It struck me what a wide world of difference there was between our sort of games-"Mother May I?", "Hide and Seek"- and his: "Find Food", "Recognize Poisonwood", "Build a House". And here he was a boy no older than eight or nine."
....
"For the first time ever I felt a sitrring of anger against my father for making me a white preacher's child from Georgia....My embarrassment ran scarlet and deep, hidden under my clothes." (pp.114-115)
This is quite the powerful passage from a first person point-of-view of Leah. Note at the end she says her embarrassment was hidden under her clothes. The significance of clothing being mentioned has to do with how blessed she is, and now knows she is. Pascal, after all, owns only a pair of khaki's. Clothing seems to run as an extended symbol throughout the novel, displaying wealth and status.
hiii
ok i'm gona do something about how it's reference to the bible ,, i'm still editing it right now .. just telling everyone my idea , so dont copy especially ruth and amanda you two i have a feeling that u guys would copy me !!
Monday, 6 June 2011
Guilt
"Maybe I'll even confess the truth, that I rode in with the horsemen and beheld the apocolypse, but still I'll insist I was only a captive witness. What is the conqueror's wife if not a conquest herself?" p.g. 9
-This quote is said by Orleanna Price in the first chapter of the book, and is a metaphor for her relationship with Nathan Price. I think this quote is foreshadowing a major theme in this story, which is guilt. The horsemen is refering to her husband, the apocolypse; a tragic event that will happen because of his actions. Orleanna feels that she too has blood on her hands from doing nothing to stop her husband, and letting the tragic events unfold.
-This quote is said by Orleanna Price in the first chapter of the book, and is a metaphor for her relationship with Nathan Price. I think this quote is foreshadowing a major theme in this story, which is guilt. The horsemen is refering to her husband, the apocolypse; a tragic event that will happen because of his actions. Orleanna feels that she too has blood on her hands from doing nothing to stop her husband, and letting the tragic events unfold.
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