Human development is an intricate process in which a society depends order to create a variety of religions, cultures, and authorities. In the novel, the Poisonwood Bible, the Price family lives in the heat of the moment as the Congo undergoes a transformation, while they adapt to living amongst the natives. The natives saw them as a threatening force that is able to jeopardize their way of living. In the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, the process of colonization is shed to light through the family’s interactions with the native Congo people as they attempt to merge their religions, cultures, and authorities Religion is forced upon the Congolese people in the Poisonwood Bible. Nathan Price moves to the Congo to impose his beliefs …show more content…
The constant strive for authority can be found all over the world. Orleanna Price is a prime example of a woman who strives to live sustainably in the Congo amongst her family without the help of her husband. Orleanna has “no money, that’s for sure. No influence, no friends [she] could call upon in that place, no way to overrule the powers that govern [their] lives. This is not a new story. [She is] an inferior force” (Kingsolver 192). The Price family has isolated themselves from the modern world and taken the approach of living in the Congo. Even though Orleanna has taken initiative to provide for herself and her family independently, her husband and the Congolese “hierarchy” still has a sense of “power” looking down on her. Nathan is continually trying to control his family and often forgets about is role as father rather than a leader. Leah emphasizes this point when stating “The education of his family’s souls is never far from my father’s thoughts. He often says he views himself as the captain of a sinking mess of female minds. I know he must find me tiresome, yet still I like spending time with my father very much more than I like doing anything else.” Leah wants her father “back” and is fed up with dealing with the constant commands from