Barbara Kingsolver's best
seller, The Poisonwood Bible, was
published in 1998. It's the gripping story of the Price family. Nathan, a Baptist
preacher-missionary obsessed with ramming Jesus down African throats, moved his
wife and four daughters in 1959 from Georgia (US) to the Belgian Congo. He is narrow
minded and obsessed, a misogynist amidst his four women, inflexible and totally
closed to the intricacies and strength of the culture and spiritual life of the
village of Kilanga and its inhabitants. In this day and age, after 911 and incessant
bombings in the US, the Middle East, and Indonesia, to name a few places, I
believe, that mentality would be classified as hardliner, although I have never
heard the term being applied to a Protestant.
His wife Orleanna is a prime
victim of the husband and the situation. The four daughters—Rachel who is very
blond and 15 when they arrive in the Congo, wants nothing more than to return
to Georgia and become the belle of the ball. The twins Leah and Adah, one year
younger than Rachel, are identical in respect of their tremendous intelligence,
but physically totally different. Leah is a tomboy daring, outspoken and
enterprising, while Adah, hemiplegic[1]
from birth, is restricted in her movements and does not want to speak. Ruth
May, the five years old late arrival, is playful and independent and the first
one to establish a contact with the village children.
The villagers are not interested
in the fire and brimstone sermons of Nathan Price and strongly oppose his
endeavours to baptise them in the river. His sermons are translated by Anatole,
the highly intelligent village teacher and only one who speaks English. The
village chief Tata Ndu is against the foreign intrusion and the attempts to erode
his authority. A shadowy South African bush pilot delivers their monthly
rations from Leopoldville.
When in 1960 the Congo gains
independence from Belgium, Nathan Price is instructed by his Mission HQ to leave
the Congo and return to America. He refuses and against the wishes of his
females he decides to stay. The monthly rations are terminated together with
the 50 dollar stipend.
Times are dire and just to feed
the family a daily problem. When suddenly Tata Ndu pays them regular visits
they are very confused not having any idea what is happening. When their helper
Nelson, who has been placed there by Anatole, explains to Orleanna that the
village chief wants to marry Rachel—because the blonde would be entertaining for
his six wives. Rachel throws a tantrum and demands to be repatriated, which only results in her
having to copy the appropriate Bible texts, the ones that refer to honouring
thy father...
Nathan comes up with the idea to
pretend that Rachel had already been promised to Eeben Axelroot, the bush
pilot.
The evening I read that I woke up in
the middle of the night, not really woke
up, more like a vivid dream where I had a very active role to play as
director and writer of the scenario. In a country where, after independence,
whites were paraded naked in the streets of Leopoldville, or just shot,
resisting the wishes of a village chief was not advisable. Would Eeben be shot,
Rachel be abducted, the whole family chased out of the village, or poisoned...?
I couldn't come up with a satisfactory solution.
I'm not going to tell you how it
all ends. Read it yourself. It was a bestseller in 1998 and selected by Oprah
for her book club, and it still is good. I strongly recommend.
Jakarta, 21 August 2013
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