The Evolution of Colonialism in the Poisonwood Bible
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver strikes an unmistakable resemblance to the popular Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Civilized westerns traveling to an unknown darkness, unexplored, with little to no laws. This journey, which is suppose to for the good of the Africans, leads to chaos and ultimately, complete failure. These similar books however have differences as they both represent colonialism through different points of view. Heart of Darkness comes from a male perspective, easily influenced by what society tells him about about Africans, on a journey. Poisonwood Bible comes from women, who at that time were treated just how Congo was, “colonized, and stripped of all valuables”(199).
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With the women perspective comes a lighter and less bias point of view.
Kingsolver uses all female narrators in an attempt to relate their experiences and feelings to her views of colonization. The women are constantly oppressed by Nathan Price as Africa is oppressed by colonizers. The women cannot speak out to Nathan Price, not even his wife, which is similar to the citizens of Africa, as they are helpless living in an isolated and unexplored area where they can’t ask anyone for help. Kingsolver makes these relations clear and even the characters themselves compare themselves to Africa being colonized. Orleanna compares her marriage with Nathan as “riches stolen from the emptied-out mine of her womb”(261) directly after talking about the American’s in the diamond mine. This helps readers understand more about colonialism and her views towards it as we constantly relates it to the main characters. It is an add-on from Heart of Darkness where the narration was from the point of view of a white male who had very many sexist views to the “less powerful” women.
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Kingsolver still sheds some light and positivity toward colonialism. This is a direct contrast from Conrad’s ideals as he believes colonialism is a mistake, one which absolutely nothing good can {text:soft-page-break} come out of it, but it was necessary to learn from it so that we never repeat it again. This was made evident in the Heart of Darkness, because all of the characters that had some sort of relation with Kurtz, were negatively affected by the experience. Marlow was traumatized, Kurtz wife led a dark miserable life proclaiming that“now I am unhappy, for- for life”(156), and Kurtz himself died. However, in Poisonwood Bible, there are frequent time-lapse’s that tell us the women’s position in life after their unforgettable journey. They all learn valuable lessons from the journey. Rachel finds great wealth and a relatively easy life-style, while Leah finds love and fights for her love, Anatole’s rights. Adah becomes healthy and uses the analytical skills she perfected in Kilango in real life. Nathan Price dies a tragic, but fore-coming death which gives everyone a sign of relief. It is clear that Kingsolver thinks that everything is a learning experience and good can come out of what seems to be a terrible situation such as the corrupt imperialisation of Congo.
However, both authors show that colonialism is followed up by different intentions and a lot of the times colonialism is used solely as an excuse to dominate territory. You have to dig deep to find the truth, and just reading about it won’t affect you, you will actually have to explore. In Heart of Darkness this is clear when Marlow reads about colonialism back home and thinks it’s fine, he even believes the stereotypes. However, when he gets to Africa, his perspective slowly starts to change. He recognizes that the “barbarian” African’s are doing nothing “barbaric”. As he literally goes deeper into the Congo jungle, on his journey to find Kurtz, the truth clearer. This man “that you don’t talk with- you listen to ”(117) and “has the capability to get everyone’s attention”(155) is actually an evil soulless man. The same exact situation happens in the Poisonwood Bible. At first Orleanna and her daughters greatly respect Nathan Price. However as they continue to live in Kilango, the clearer their vision becomes. Nathan was a crazed man, hungry for power, not an ideal fit for someone trying to spread the “holy” Christain religion. Both Conrad and Kingsolver see colonialism as a mask to hide behind, as they both built their entire books on discovering the truth.
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Colonizers are dictators. They attain power from demoralizing citizens and are quick to abuse that power. They don’t realize the consequences for their actions and only care about themselves as they become completely disengaged from reality. Both authors put the colonists in this category. Kingsolver is quick to show that Nathan is a madman who’s ideas are clearly corrupt by his bias and racist views. He never realizes his mistakes, even when accidentally declaring that “Tata Jesus is bangala”(312) in a pronunciation that could only mean Poisonwood. He spent little time with his family, and failed to notice that Ruth May was dying of malaria. He even insisted that Brother Fowles, the missionary before him was “crazy” as he was “consorting with the inhabitants of the land”(38) and continued to argue with the “hometown hero” just because of his actions. Nathan’s views are clearly racist and idealistic. On top of that, he always uses god as his scapegoat for ideas that he doesn’t believe in, such as marrying the women living in Kilango. He is quick to refute any criticism directed to him or his “all-mighty” god, and in doing so, he feels as he himself is a god. Kurtz is in his own way similar to Nathan and fits this category perfectly. He isolated himself deep in the jungle, making his own little world. He uses the Africans as machines, whether it is a working machine, or a pleasure machine. He fails to distinguish the difference between him and other humans as he himself feels he is immortal. It takes someone particularly evil, and perhaps lacking a conscience, to enter and exploit an “unknown but vulnerable darkness”.
These books are two very similar stories told from different perspectives. However, these changes in perspectives help us further comprehend the many ways colonization occurs. It helps us decipher the reasons for colonialism, which many times is not what it seems. There are ulterior motives that we must recognize in order to stop this from happening again. The varied angles of view, status and personalities greatly separate the books and the point of views given in both and in the end, different messages are received from both books respectively.
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Works Cited
Austenfeld, Anne Marie. “The Revelatory Narrative Circle in Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible.” Journal of Narrative Theory. 2006. 23 Feb. 2010
Gavin Esler. “Books: Heart of Darkness with Band Aids.” The Independent (London, England).
Independent News & Media. 1999. 24 Feb. 2010
Demory, Pamela H.. “Into the heart of light: Barbara Kingsolver rereads Heart of Darkness.” Conradiana. Texas Tech University Press. 2002. 24 Feb. 2010
Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness.” Signet Classic. 1910. 24 Feb. 2010
Kingsolver, Barbara. “The Poisonwood Bible.” Harper Flamingo. 1998. 24 Feb. 2010
