The state of being removed from one’s native land is known as
exile. In the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Leah Price and her
family leave their homeland to travel to Congo where Leah’s father hopes to
preach at their local church. In Kilanga, a village in Congo, they are
bombarded by the different cultures and ways of the people. Though at the
beginning of the trip Leah feels out of place, she ends up becoming more and
more intrigued by the people of Kilanga.
Once in
Congo, Leah immediately feels alienated and out of place when she reaches the village
of Kilanga. The first thing she notices is that the women of Kilanga walk around
with bare chests and if people were to do that in Georgia, they would be looked
down upon. However, the Kilanga people give the Prices’ weird looks for showing
their legs. The gardening ways of the Kilanga
people were also very different because they had to plant on mounds whereas in
Georgia they planted on flat land. Arriving in a place that is completely
opposite than what someone is use to is never an easy thing to do. Coming from
Georgia to Congo, the Price family had to make numerous changes to their lifestyle
in order to survive.
After a few days in Kilanga, Leah makes a lot of adjustments
and begins to learn a lot more about the Kilanga culture and way of life. In a
way, a change of environment can be very enhancing. For example, Leah learns new
ways to do things like the Kilanga trick to gardening which has helped the
plants grow well. When someone comes to a new place they get to meet a lot of
new people who have been experiencing and living life very differently than they
have. Therefore, a lot of tips and tricks can be shared amongst them. Learning
about different peoples’ cultures can help enlarge your vision of the world and
open your eyes to all the different aspects of life.
In conclusion, being relocated can be both alienating and
enriching as Leah Price learned in her journey from Georgia to the Congo village
of Kilanga. All the different ways of life came as a shock to Leah. However, with
an open mind Leah was able to really feel at home in Kilanga. In fact, she never
truly returns back to her hometown or ways of life. This shows that though moving
to a different environment can be terrifying, it can also broaden one’s
horizons and views in a positive way.
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