Title

I live in a world of fantasy, so keep your reality away from me. I see what I want, I
want what I see, and that is all okay with me. –Itzah C. Kret

Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible utilizes diction to foster a critical

tone towards the perceived, ostensible superiority of the wealthy and the able.

Kingsolver conveys this diction and tone through the arrogant and rather incapable

Nathan Price, the lack of intelligence of Rachel Price, and the juxtaposition of these

characters against Adah Price and the people of Kilanga.

Reverend Nathan Price proves his ignorance and self-righteousness through

his misuse of the Kikongo language and his poor treatment of the Kilanga

community. In many instances throughout his pursuit of converting Kilanga

residents from idolatry to Christianity, he offends and fails to properly communicate

with the Congolese because of his lack of knowledge in their native language. During

his sermon, Price often errs in attempting to speak Kikongo due to his lack of trust

towards the interpreters, a testament to his willful arrogance. For example, his

daughter, Adah, describes him, saying:

He throws back his head and shouts these words [Tata Jesus is baä ngala!] to

the sky, while his lambs sit scratching themselves in wonder. Bangala means

something precious and dear. But the way he pronounces it, it means the

poisonwood tree. Praise the Lord, hallelujah, my friends! for Jesus will make

you itch like nobody’s business. (Kingsolver 276)

Kingsolver displays Nathan Price’s ignorance and lack of will to learn the Kikongo

language through his mispronunciation of the word “bangala.” Additionally, the use
of the word “lambs” to describe the Kilanga people further exemplifies that Nathan

sees himself as a superior being, believing he has been sent as a shepherd to lead the

people of Kilanga, who he believes to have been led astray by their religious

practices which he views as corrupt and unholy. In referring to the Congolese as

“lambs,” he perceives himself as of a higher standard and acts as if these people

would be lost without him, just as lambs would be without their shepherd. Overall,

Reverend Nathan Price does not take the time to assimilate in the Kilanga culture

and language, a manifestation of the fact that he holds himself in a higher, holier

esteem than he does the Congolese.

In addition to her utilization of Nathan Price, Barbara Kingsolver employs the

character of Rachel Price to illuminate the purported superiority of certain types of

people. By all quantifiable standards, Rachel appears to be of a rather paragon

human quality. She is beautiful, wealthy, and of a capable demographic; by all means,

she has an advantage over her African counterparts. However, she does not take

advantage of the high-quality education she is exposed to, and she refrains from

using all of her advantages in life to assist those around her who do not have the

same opportunities. Kingsolver uses Rachel as an example of the Price family’s lack

of understanding that their work in the Congo is more detrimental than helpful,

elucidating this through Rachel’s stupidity, which is apparent in her diction. As

Orleanna attempts to learn more about her daughter’s true self, Rachel states, “I

won’t tell her. I prefer to remain anomalous” (270). All in all, Rachel Price highlights

the Price family’s assumed superiority due to their being domiciled in the western

world, despite the fact that the family has done little to help the Congo.
 In contrast to Nathan and Rachel Price, Adah Price, who is handicapped by

her disinclination to speak and her hemiplegia diagnosis which left her with the

inability to move her left side, is looked upon as inferior despite her precocious

intelligence and her understanding of the Kilanga culture as well as the world

around her, which she shows through her diction. This misinterpretation is proven

through the chapters that relay Adah’s thoughts and feelings regarding her family’s

poor decisions as well as a sense of respect for the people of Kilanga, something that

most of her family members seem to lack. Kingsolver utilizes Adah as an antithesis

of sorts to prove the point that her family has the potential to be a lot more of help

than the hindrance they are. In her family’s culture, Adah is perceived to be weak

and defective; however, in the Congo, she proves that these things do not define her

and that she is no less than her family for being disabled. She realizes this, stating,

“In that other long-ago place, America, I was a failed combination of too-weak body

and overstrong will. But in Congo I am those things perfectly united: Adah” (343).

Her inherent strength in spite of her biological shortcomings is exemplified in her

profound intelligence of the Kilanga culture and Kikongo language, which she

quickly picks up on and surpasses even her father in her capability of speaking and

understanding Additionally, she has a slightly different way of viewing the world,

partially due to the nature of her condition and partially due to her view of the

illness. She continually thinks and writes in palindromes, representing her affinity

for parallelism, something she does not find in herself; she sees these words as

symmetrical, and she sees herself as lopsided. Adah manages to be the most

respectful member of the Price family, partially due to her contemplative nature and
her experience of being looked down upon similarly to the way her family looks

down upon the Congolese.

Overall, Nathan Price’s self-importance acts as an obstruction to his mission,

as he takes no time to learn the Kikongo language, thereby erring in his diction when

he pronounces words wrong, as the pronunciation of a word changes its entire

meaning. Rachel Price

Bad characters, bad diction; good characters, profound/intelligent diction