Nathan In The Poisonwood Bible

In the book, “The Poisonwood Bible” there is a rather interesting character, named Nathan Price. The tone used to describe Nathan Price in the book is always related to his cruelty, oppressiveness and the devious way he acts throughout the book. The tone used by his wife and daughters throughout the novel produces the feeling that he is the main Antagonist in the book. Nathan is also extremely abusive against his wife and daughters. He is an extremist, a coward and a terrible preacher. His lack of knowledge about God and more importantly, life in general, cause everyone in the novel to despise him, especially his family. Nathan Price was so desperate about preaching, he decided to move from the United States to the Congo. This is ironic

The reason why Nathan and Leah have this conflict is because of Nathan’s narrow-mindedness and lack of self awareness. The main purpose of The Poisonwood Bible is to show how different people deal with guilt. Nathan however has no guilt, and this is the source of many conflicts with Leah. Nathan has no self-awareness. When he does something he never thinks of his family, he only thinks

Throughout the whole novel, Mr. Price acts very selfishly. The stressful move to Africa did not relieve his self-centered ways. He moved his family across the Atlantic Ocean and into a very different lifestyle than the one in which they had currently been living. This was a very conceited act. Not only is Nathan greedy, he is also stubborn as a mule. “It’s hard to imagine a mortal man more unwilling to change his course than Nathan Price” (Page 96). This is a problem for the entire family. His headstrong personality puts his family in a lot of situations they would have liked to avoid. The women in his life always seem to be the last thing on his mind. Whether it is the fact that he embarasses them or puts them in danger, it does not seem to matter to him.

how Nathan’s neglect of his family affected Orleanna greatly. “ For six years, from age nineteen

explains what it was like before she stopped listening to Nathan: “Feared Him, loved Him,

During the beginning of the Price family’s arrival at the Congo, the family settles in an unfamiliar land of Kilanga and Nathan is being portrayed as the physical representation of the American perspective on the African people by creating conflict. Since the family is from Georgia, the surroundings and the atmosphere of

Waters. Here, Nathan abandoned the feeling of having more academic promise than his brothers and instead, traded in better education for acceptance. This is the beginning of Nathan’s downfall.

Acts Of Vampires: Fosters; How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Nice To Eat You: Acts Of Vampires, explains the concept of vampirism not as the actual act of biting and consuming a person's life force, but as the destruction of innocence in regards only to personal desire. Foster says “the essentials of the vampire story [include]... an older figure representing corrupt, outworn values; a young.. female; a stripping away of her youth” (Foster 19). Nathan, in The Poisonwood Bible, is displayed as the older figure representing corrupt, outworn values who refused to respect the autonomy of others and focusses on his personal desires over the needs of others. This is first displayed in Nathan's introduction speech after the dinner during their

No one shows the oppression, inflicted upon the Congo’s people in hope of spreading imperialism, better than the main characters in this story. Nathans only goal is to convert all of the native people’s beliefs to Christianity. By hoping to doing this, they will be able to grasp control and establish their dominance upon the village. This can be seen through Orleannas thoughts, “Call it oppression, complicity stupefaction, call it what you’d like, it doesn’t matter. Africa swallowed the conqueror’s music and sang a new song of her own” (Kingsolver 385). Kingsolver shows that individuals are always going to want and demand control, however the victims of this oppression will fight past it and won’t give in. Many people have come before the Price family, trying to do the same thing. However, the natives are smarter than to give into their new ideologies.

As Nathan was treated poorly throughout the story I really saw him forgive his wife time and time again throughout the book. After the death of Nathan and Ruth’s daughter Ariel their relationship was tested to the max. Ruth would isolate herself from her husband and she almost despised him for not being upset with the Lord. Ruth could not accept how Nathan turned to God because she blamed God for all of this. While Nathan was being ignored, looked as bad, or just despised by his wife, he did not fold in and say whatever I give up. Nathan had an understanding and forgiving mindset he understood why his wife felt like this. Nathan forgave his wife while she was in the progress of despises him. Nathan never acted this way towards her, he simply turned the other cheek. Nathan showed a great will power by being able to forgive his wife so easily. This spoke volumes because he simply lived his life in a forgiving manner. As Nathan showed his faith and forgiveness through the story I saw a true man of God. Nathan lived in such a way where he could forgive people for the things they did and this was because of how strong he was in his faith. Living a life like Nathan means to live a life for God. A true man of God allowed for Nathan to live a very purposeful life.

Nathan Price struggles with survivor's guilt from WWII. This grief weighs him down, and it not only causes him to be hard on himself personally, it causes him to be hard on his wife and four daughters. He sees himself as a coward, however, in order to hide how he truly views himself, he shows himself off as brave and strong. In reality, Nathan is a coward for hiding himself behind God, and a selfish man for not letting himself commiserate with others. Along with trying to make himself seem like something he is not, he convinces himself that he is going to save the souls of the Congolese people using God’s power. In reality, he is just trying to save his spot in Heaven since he is so guilty about not dying in WWII. Nathan Price has a certain moral code and if anyone, including his family, disobeys it, he believes they should then be punished by God. He also thinks that God will frown upon any actions that are not centered on God. For example, Nathan does not even take the time to love his own wife and daughters. "Father would sooner watch us all perish one by one than listening to anybody but himself"

As Mathew 6:1 states, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven,” Nathan Price, is very hypocritical as he does his good deeds to be noticed, while Orleanna does them out of faith and moral righteousness.

Father to the Price family, Nathan Price emerged his family into this mission in the hopes to spread religion to Congo. He chose to endanger his family in the hopes that he would be able to affect the religion of everyone he influenced. Similar to Rachel, Nathan also represents western ideals influencing Congo. Nathan believed that an education for women was a waste. "Sending a girl to college is like pouring water in your shoes. [...] It's hard to say which is worse, seeing it run out and waste the water, or seeing it hold in and wreck the shoes." This proves that Nathan Price was sexism towards his family was driven by his belief of Christianity. Throughout the book Nathan represents the Christianity in America in the sixties.

     In The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, the romantic standards that are associated with literature during the American Renaissance are evident. This popular novel, a New York Times Bestseller, embodies the concept of Romanticism with its gothic darkness, themes of loss and nostalgia, and a strong captivity narrative. The presence of a wise child and recurring double language are essential to the plot of the story. Nathan Price's misguided mission to save souls in the Congo is transformed into an evil that invades a type of Paradise and so, the reader realizes immediately that this twisted attempt to Christianize the savages will result in a fall of epic proportions. The

Nathan sees his wife children as burdens, rather than gifts. A child is supposed to be your pride and joy and Nathan does not see this. He is more of a ruler than a father. Orleanna even