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“Everything you’re sure is right can be wrong in another place.” - Leah (Pg. 505)

“... grabbing her arm hard and jerking the plate out of her hand. He raised it up over her head and slammed it down hard on the table…” - Rachel (Pg. 134)

“My baby, my blood, my honest truth.” - Orleanna (Pg. 382)

“Several other children remembered this game… asking again and again in a rising plea: Mother May I?” - Leah (Pg. 375)

“Leah slung her bow over her shoulder. ‘I’m going with the men and that’s final.’” - Rachel (Pg. 340)

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                                          Final Reflection

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                                          Final Reflection

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Throughout the book, there have been combinations of both Love and Betrayal that the characters would either experience, or express. My first thought, regarding the question, views “Love” as positive, and “Betrayal” as negative. Kingsolver was able to show that expressing Love and Betrayal can lead to both positive and negative outcomes based on the situation.

My original thought when thinking of “Love”, that has been shown in this book, would have to be Orleanna’s love for Ruth-May, her youngest daughter. I soon began to realize that the Love for her daughters wasn’t as strong as her love for her husband. If she had truly loved her daughters, then she would have disagreed with Nathan on multiple occasions, but she chose to stay quiet instead. Orleanna's love for Nathan is different from her daughters because she is blinded with fear, and is unable to see the flaws of Nathan. If she wasn’t so in “love” with Nathan, she could've gotten her daughters to safety without any repercussions. This explains how the “love” shown through most of the book is negative and gave horrible consequences.

On the other hand, when thinking of “Betrayal”, I thought of it as negative. When I started to reread a couple scenes, I figured out the Kingsolver utilized betrayal to have an outcome where Orleanna and her daughters were able to make it out of the Kongo. For example, the only way they were able to escape the Kongo was after Ruth-May’s death. The love she originally had for Nathan started to disintegrate because she could’ve saved her little girl if she fought back against Nathan staying in the Congo. Orleanna’s vision started to clear up, and she soon realized, the only way she can protect her daughters is if she takes a stand for herself against Nathan. She betrays Nathan, going against his wishes to stay in the Congo as a family, and leads her daughters out of that nightmare. Betraying Nathan saved herself and her daughters. The consequence of betraying had a positive outcome as Orleanna and her daughters were able to make it out alive without any more deaths.

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Kingsolver’s use of Love and Betrayal in the book is similar to Sophocles in his book Antigone. When Ruth-May died, not only was Orleanna mourning, but so were the Congolese women and children. Orleanna feels guilty that her obedience and love for Nathan clouded her judgment on what’s best for the kids, and resulted in the death of her youngest child. One quote that shows the emotions the death of Ruth-May caused is “We’d heard this strange mourning song so many times before, back during the heavy rains when so many children got sick.” (Pg. 371) This theme of love and betrayal between family members plays out with Antigone, as she chooses to have burial for her brother, Polyneices, who fought against her other brother, Eteocles. Having a burial for the deceased was a tradition in her religion because it was just. In order to do that, she would have to betray the kingdom of Thebes and her deceased brother, Eteocles. These two books have the theme of love and betrayal because Orleanna and Antigone both betray one family member, for another.

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The words “Love” and “Betrayal” have many different meanings to them, and based on the situation, they can both represent good and evil. I can relate to both these words, and I’m beginning to understand why Kingsolver used the two together throughout the book. For example, Kingsolver uses love and betrayal to explain the emotions that radiate off a character during a specific scene. One scene that radiates with different emotions would have to be during Leah’s confession as she says, “‘I love you, Anatole.’”  followed by Anatoles response, “‘Leah! Don’t ever say that again. ‘” and then by Leah’s inner thoughts, “I never will.” (Pg. 311). This scene expresses Leah’s love for Anatole, but her betrayal to her pride. Throughout the book, Leah always acts rational, and she’s seen as the smartest sister. I’ve always seen Leah as one who does things with thought and careful “calculations”. I personally relate to the love and betrayal used in this scene because I’m one who doesn’t like to betray my pride, so every decision I’ve ever made has been thought out. Expect, like Leah, when things start to overflow, and you just want to know the unknown, in Leah’s case, what Antole’s response could’ve been, you’d might as well take this risk. Although I've recently made my emotions decide my actions, this book encourages me to take more risks, but not lose my rational thinking in the meantime. Kingsolver encourages me to balance both being rational, and acting based on emotions.

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                                              Scene Analysis

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                                              Scene Analysis

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Kingsolver presents the themes of love and betrayal through the actions of Orleanna towards her daughters, specifically, Ruth-May and Adah. During the attack of the flesh eating ants, Orleanna made a decision out of love, but in the process expressed betrayal as well. As the Price family, and the rest of the Kongo were surprised by the ant invasion, their immediate response was to run to the river. Adah, with her limp, struggled to reach safety, she needed the help of her mother. Orleanna was clutching Ruth-May in her arms, as well as trying to urge Adah to go faster… but Adah fell, and her mother left her to get both herself and her youngest daughter to safety. One quote that expressed a sense of betrayal in Adah is “Once I looked for my mother and saw her, far ahead… left… behind” (Pg. 306).

Although Orleanna was acting out of love for Ruth-May, she betrayed Adah and was ready to sacrifice her daughter for the safety of her youngest daughter. Kingsolver shows the theme of love and betrayal through the actions of Orleanna and her favoritism between her children in a dire situation. Words that Kingsolver utilizes to show the sense of betrayal Adah feels is “left….behind”. These words, with a noticeable pause, allow the readers emotions to grasp on the current situation, and how Adah was left to die purposely.  With this scene, the readers are able to learn more about Orleanna’s character and how she will sacrifice a loved one, to protect the other. Kingsolver uses the theme of love and betrayal together in many other scenes, and expresses how in order to want one thing, you must leave something of equal importance behind. When Adah comes to the boat with the help of Anatole, Orleanna’s consequences were the feeling of guilt and shame of her actions and how she just deemed Adah’s life as worthless compared to Ruth-May’s. They both sat in silence on their way to safety.

Later in the book, when Orleanna and the Price sisters try to leave the Kongo after Ruth-May’s death, Orleanna is placed with another difficult decision to make. Who will Orleanna take with her on her journey out of the Kongo? Leah fell ill, and needed to rest, but they had to keep going. Orleanna chose Adah. Leah would stay with Anatole until she was ready to make her own journey out of the Kongo. One quote to explain Orleanna’s determination in taking Adah to safety is, “Mother was going to drag me out of Africa if it was her last living act,...” (Pg. 410) Although, Orleanna had to betray Leah, and leave her behind, in order to get Adah to safety. Kingsolver shows another scene of both betrayal and love coming into play when Orleanna makes her decision. Kingsolver also expresses the fact that Orleanna only chose to continue her journey out of the Kongo with Adah because of guilt. She didn’t wanted to betray her daughter twice, and Orlenna knows that Leah can fend for herself, as she previously said during the ant attack, “‘Leah will, Leah can take care of herself.’” (Pg. 305)