Essay Assignment #1

Exile

                Edward Said wrote that “Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience.” He then continued on to say that exile can become a “potent, even enriching” experience. In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, this saying is displayed impeccably. From Leah Price’s point of view we see her excitement about living in the Congo, but as the story unfolds we see her feelings change as she actually lives and experiences it. However, as the novel begins to end we see her life married to Anatole become this “enriching” experience Said had written about.

 

                In the beginning of the novel, The Poisonwood Bible, we are introduced to Leah. She shares with the reader that the objects they carry to the Congo have become a burden. Nevertheless, we see from the start her optimistic view about her family’s mission to the Congo and her undeniable likeness of her father’s views that they are carrying out God’s works by bringing enlightenment to the natives. During the first few days of being in the Congo, we see Leah actions follow what she said earlier in the novel. While the other girls help their mother set up the house, Leah follows after her father and watches him plant a “demonstration garden.” During this event in the book, we see Leah’s longing to follow in her father’s footsteps. During the earlier part of The Poisonwood Bible, Leah seems to be the only one of the five Price women who has yet to make a negative remark about their life in the Congo. This optimistic characteristic displays this overwhelming interest at the thought of exile.

 

                However, as we read deeper into the novel, the reader sees Leah’s views of the Congo begin to change. With her observations in Kilanga and Leopoldville, her eye-opening discussion with Anatole and the discovery of orders to kill Lumumba, Leah reaches her breaking point. We see that she is finally convinced that her and her family are going to die and no longer feels the need to follow her father and believe in something that she can’t truly believe anymore. This event in the novel therefore proves the point Said was talking about saying that “exile is terrible to experience.”

 

After the hardship Leah experienced in the Congo, things begin to turn around. She chooses to stay behind and marry Anatole. They have three sons and move to Angola where Leah teaches classes in nutrition, sanitation, and soybeans. The reader sees that this “exile” Leah went through has now become an enriching experience. In conclusion, it can be proven that exile can be both a positive and negative experience.