Introduction “The Poisonwood Bible,” by Barbara Kingsolver, uses the character Nathan Price to address the effects of Western supremacy and superiority personal, specifically fueled by religion. The Price family goes to the Congo on a mission trip, only a year before the country secedes from Belgium, leaving them in great need of help. Nathan was determined to provide this help, willingly or by force, while taking his family with him. How each child handles this depends on their personality and views. Kingsolver uses Nathan's three daughters and their personal perspectives to address the dangers of ignoring the perspectives of others with the idea of ​​one's own superiority. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Leah's Perspective The morality of imposing one's personal values ​​on others without considering opposing viewpoints creates a toxic circumstance that can lead to closed minds and dangerous misconceptions. Kingsolver addresses this problem by using the narrative structure of switching between perspectives to make the toxicity of superiority evident throughout the text. However, she specifically leaves out Nathan's point of view so that readers can see how his behavior affects different types of people. Nathan Price is almost immediately presented as a radical Christian, a closed-minded individual who believes he owes his entire existence to God's satisfaction. The illusion that one's God sees a strict separation between good and evil is very dangerous for someone like Nathan – a man determined to spread the word of God for his own personal gain. When the Price family ventures into the Congo, they are not welcome as Nathan's Western superiority is very evident in the way he treats the Congolese but also in the way he reacts to them in times of need. The fact that they are not quick to accept him and the word of God only intensifies his personal feelings of superiority and makes him even more defiant than before. However, how this intensity is accepted is different depending on each character. Leah, a teenager who holds the image of her father close to her heart, thinks highly of her father – even stating that "[Nathan's] dedication to church was the anchoring force" in his life. (Kingsolver 64). She even goes so far as to affirm that “his wisdom is great” (42). This heroic view of her father makes the Church and his faith something of great importance in her life, only fueling Nathan and his idea of ​​himself as someone of notable value. This self-centered characteristic causes Nathan to neglect not only the "centuries of custom and survival" but also the reality that "daily struggles focus on survival and not redemption" (Ognibene). Despite all this, Léa still has a positive view of her father, and her childlike perspective leads her to sincerely believe that everything he does is for the good of the Congolese. She believes the world is beautiful through her naive eyes and longs to "exult in God's creation" – a very different view from that of the Congolese whose society is in chaos (Kingsolver 149). The world is not beautiful for the Congolese, and they believe that God has given them nothing – which Leah's sister Rachel also seems to agree with. As Leah grows up, she begins to resent her father and the guilt in her heart is almost paralyzing. She evokes “the agitation of anger against [her]father for making her the daughter of a white pastor” because it so distinguished her from the Congolese (115). It is difficult for him to accept the fact that it is “frightening when the things you love suddenly seem changed from what you have always known” (236). All her life she had seen her father as a hero, "following in his footsteps all her life" and now her whole perspective has changed, leaving her to "fall behind [her] mother" (393). As Leah grew up, she began to see her father's inability to accept other cultures and accept the differences of those who were different from him. Rachel's Perspective While Leah tended to see the good in the people around her, including her father, Rachel's perspective on La Congolaise is very negative as she tends to only see beauty. of herself. She is very much like the stereotypical teenager in that she is very concerned about herself and her appearance. She is not interested in things that do not benefit her in one way or another. Upon arriving in the Congo, she complains that she is "angry at her father...for having [them] there in the first place" (49). Rachel also speaks negatively about those who do not share her Western idea of ​​fashion and privilege, calling the Underdowns "plain girls" with their "economic haircuts and khaki pants" (Kingsolver 159). Even though the Underdowns share English with the Prices, Rachel still refuses to accept them as her equals – a trait that is very similar to the way her father behaves when around those unlike him. not. Which is not surprising when she speaks poorly of the Congolese and their customs, even complaining about their traditional costume. She states that there was no need for them to be "so African about it", making it clear that she rejects the idea of ​​trying to accept or validate cultures that differ from her own (45) . Not only does Rachel refuse, but she is rather insensitive to the cruelties taking place around her. Ruth-May's death took its toll on everyone in the family, regardless of how they handled it. However, Rachel's personal superiority does not fail to shine through even during this tragedy as she states that she is "still alive and not dead like Ruth May", leading her to believe that she "must have done something right ", insinuating that Ruth May had done it. something that can cause one's own death (405). This callousness and sense of self-entitlement is a by-product of his father's behavior and his children's lack of exposure to other cultures. Rachel even states that her own father “would rather watch them all perish one by one than listen to anyone but himself” (169). Nathan is so committed to his faith and his mission to spread the word of God that the family is able to pick up on his traits, good or bad, and create their own personal agendas. Rachel's mission is to be in a position of superiority to those around her. She sees things the way she wants as long as it benefits her, and this trait doesn't leave her even as she gets older. As she prepared to leave Congo, she said she "doesn't remember giving a second thought to the question of when I would ever see [her family] again, if ever" because ultimately, if it doesn't involve or benefit him, in some way it doesn't matter. Adah's Perspective Adah's perspective on life is very different from that of her other sisters. Being physically disabled in no way hinders one's mental ability to process and understand the world around one - in fact, it could be considered.