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In Poisonwood Bible, the theme of ignorance of the western world is represented by Nathan's closed mind and inability to see past his own ideas. Nathan has repeatedly passed on his ignorance to the women within his family I n the novel and lead them into their own turmoil because of this. Nathan's ignorance and inability to step down from his high horse leads not only put him but his whole family to be looked at as a failure. With the people in Africa viewing the Price family as nothing but foreign people, who have no respect for the religion and culture of their home

In book one, Nathan's ignorance is exemplified with his demonstration garden, and refusal to listen to Mama Tataba, a native who was just trying to look out and help his family. Nathan fully believed that he was correct in his ways and others weren't. Closed off to only his ideas and stuck to his western ideals, in return lead to failure with the growth of his garden. Even after he was proved wrong,  his refusal to listen and respect the people and culture of the Congo continued. Nathan's overpowering ignorance and arrogance transferred into his home life, and especially in his daughters. Leah Price followed Nathan around as he incorrectly planted his garden, and saw him refuse to adapt to Mama Tataba's advice about not only the garden, but staying away from the poisonwood tree as well. Nathan's horrible rash is proof that he was blind to any outside help, and Leah's continuous support for her father shows how much power Nathan had over his family, "some people find him overly stern and frightening, but that is only because he was gifted with such keen judgment and purity of heart,  "Not everyone can see it but my father's heart is a big as his hands. And his wisdom is great." Nathan's ignorance was obviously hereditary and impossible to escape.

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In “The Poisonwood Bible” one of the major characters, Nathan Price is a direct embodiment of the theme of willful ignorance and the consequences that come from it. Although Nathan is aware of his surroundings and what is going on in the village of Kilanga, he decides to ignore it, for his own good. Through the poisonwood tree he is informed of the consequences that come from touching it, but once again he chose to ignore it. Nathan Price interacts with the locals through an ethnocentric perspective furthering his ignorance and his reluctance to respect other cultures and use his own to judge the norms of others. Nathan Price’s arrogance essentially leads him into a series of negative consequences that would have been preventable if Nathan Price merely respected and chose to engage in the knowledge of other cultures.

Nathan’s first encounter with the poisonwood tree happens while planting his demonstration garden. He is told by Mama Tataba but he choses to not listen to him, proving his willingful ignorance not only towards the village but to the people of it. Obviously, Mama Tataba knew more than him but because of his ethnocentric perspective, he doesn’t care about what he has to say. The poisonwood tree ultimately represents the societal demise and self-destruction that roots from the actions of Nathan price. The painful swelling of Nathan’s arms and hands symbolizes the destruction and pain that Nathan is directly responsible for due to his own actions that stem from his self-supremacy and ethnocentric ideology.

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The novel Poisonwood Bible contains the symbol of the Poisonwood tree, the main character/antagonists Nathan Price, and the prominent motif of missed opportunity that the other, Barbara Kingsolver used to adapt and build on the progressive theme of ignorance throughout the Price's rollercoaster of a life in Congo.
The tree in Poisonwood Bible contributes to the theme of ignorance because of Nathan Price's obvious disregard for the Congolese culture.

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In the Poisonwood Bible, Rachel Price is one of four sisters and is very conceded. She believes that she is very beautiful, and the way she looks is what comforts her in life. She uses her beauty to manipulate others to get what she wants. One of the symbols that relates to Rachel's character is her mirror. Her mirror is extremely important to her, and she feels the need to have it with her, but she hides it underneath her clothes. Her self-obsession occupies her from seeing all that’s going on around her, which ultimately reveals the theme of cultural ignorance.

The mirror is a symbol, providing evidence that Rachel is narcissistic, and that she has no consideration for the new culture around her. The use of the mirror also shows how disrespectful she was, and how she heavily followed the idea of child living in a privileged white home. Rachel is only concerned with how this new ground in the Congo doing missionary work will affect her life, not willing to open her mind to the new ideas around her. You could say she is sheltered, and in ways some what spoiled. Rachel states, "Not my clothes, there wasn’t time, and not the Bible-it didn’t seem worth saving at that moment, so help me God. It had to be my mirror. “The symbol of the mirror and the traits that make up Rachel Price influence the theme of the incomprehension of the Congo and the West. Rachel feels entitled due to the fact that she is from the west, and is too childish to be able to learn about what is around her. The ignorance Rachel shows towards her surroundings also shows when she is oblivious to everything her father is taking part of, and the fact that the family is not working with each other the way they used to back in Georgia.

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In the Poisonwood Bible, the main theme is grief and the various ways characters cope with it. The Price family as a whole was shadowed by a cloud of grief due to actions of others. Nathan was one character most affected by grief. His entire squadron was killed in the Bataan Death March, and he feels responsible for their deaths. The way he tries to suppress his grief is by attempting to "fix" the flaws of others through the power of God. One symbol that shows Nathan's tendencies to act as some self proclaimed spiritual savior, is his interaction with the Poisonwood tree. His impulsive need to mend what he thinks is broken, even though he was advised not to, caused him to suffer from swollen hands that made him look like the Michelin Man. Also, the severe pain of his hands symbolizes and foreshadows the fate he will face when he tries to fix the wrong person.

Throughout the book, motifs such as the ability of sight is heavily associated with Nathan. This motif can be taken in both a spiritual reference or taken literally. His inability to see outside of his vision of what a divine servant of God looks like and his hard headed nature defines the poor state his mental sight is in. Nathan also has a visual restriction one side of his eye, caused by battle during World War Two. His scar that hinders his sight gives Nathan constant frustration, and reminds him of his dark past during the war and the debt he feels he owes to his fallen comrades.

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The character Nathan Price is a representation of the theme of arrogance in the book Poisonwood Bible. It is his arrogant personality that leads to societal collapse from his stubborn belief in self supremacy. One symbol that represents this is the sun that is seen out the plane window in the early transition of the book. “Quote Above”. The sun can resemble the arrogance of Nathan Price which will eventually lead to the collapse and devastation of the society. He ignores the needs and wants of the village which leads to the demise. A motif that is repeated throughout the book is light and dark. The sun in this case, light, doesn’t always represent a good thing. An explosive expansion that devours that all is good in it’s light. The absence of light is usually connotated with bad and evil but in this book the “light” can be unwanted and actually harmful to the Congolese.

Arrogance of religion, race, culture, etc. leads to a lot of misunderstanding and unnecessary hate and etc. that causes society to implode. Arrogance leads to willful ignorance and hate. Nathan didn’t want to understand. He “doesn’t have trouble interpreting the words of God (book three: The Judges)” , he knows he’s 100% “right”. His arrogance also shows in his influence on his children in the book in how they also view the natives, such as Rachel Price who ignorantly criticizes them for their non-Christian, American, and non-white “evil eye fetishes (book three: The Judges)” that is important to their own religion (the views of his children are in such ways an extension of Nathan Price). Even the way his children view him show his arrogance (below under Quotes). He lets Ruth May DIE because of his arrogance in not wanting to leave the Congo.

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Throughout the novel "Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver, Nathan Price struggles with adapting to his newfound cultural surroundings. His repeated attempts at religious conversion of the villagers exemplifies western ignorance of surrounding culture. Nathan price conveys the theme of ignorance of the West and the symbol of the family's failed garden along with the motif of perspective exemplify the understanding of this theme.
The Price's garden is representative of the dysfunctional relationship between the seeds of Western ideals planted in foreign soil. Nathan's understanding of life could not apply to this new culture. Ignoring Mama Tataba and claiming he has "been tending the soil ever since [he] could walk behind his father" shows is lack of understanding that he is in a new place. The garden failing and lacking the care that it needed, mirrors the treatment of the natives that Nathan inflicted. Without the mindset that they are a different culture, the religion that he wanted to thrive could not survive.

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In the Poison Wood Bible the Prices exemplify a theme of a refusal to adopt to a new environment through their ignorant attempts to continue to cling onto western ways. This is made evident through many attempts to implement western culture onto those who's culture is extremely different from theirs. The theme of a refusal to adapt is shown by many instances, mainly through Nathan's garden and his desire to baptize children in the crocodile infested river, which shows his stubborn nature which is prominent throughout the book.

Nathan Price is a particularly stubborn man, in fact it is his fatal flaw. He refuses to acknolwdge the culture of those he is living amongst. He chooses to ignore the reason the people of Kilanga do not want their children down in the river, instead trying everything to make them feel "moved by the spirit" enough to risk being eaten by a crocodile. Even when others try to explain to them their extremely valid reason to not want to even go near the river, Nathan pushes on, believeing that the day shall come where they will bend to the will of God and choose to be baptized into the Christian faith.

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In "Poisonwood Bible", many themes are explored - one being the feeling of superiority of the West. Throughout the novel, Nathan feels that he is superior, and knows best. He constantly dismisses the Congolese culture - which can be symbolized by his actions in the garden in regards to ignoring Mama Tataba's advice. Nathan pushes the issue of baptism throughout the novel, all while ignoring the concern of the natives. This ignorance and feeling of superiority is what ultimately leads to Nathan's death.

Nathan's character is the main source of conflict in both the village and within his family. His feeling of superiority takes root within his family, as he feels like he is dominant over the five women. This feeling of superiority extends to the Congolese people as he readily dismisses their beliefs and traditions, but expects them to accept what he says about Christianity. "Then he turned to us and declared it was high time for us to go to bed and put the light out on laughable Congolese superstitions" (p.357). As Nelson predicts and fears an evil sign, this warning goes in one ear and out the other for Nathan. He continually ignores the Congolese people's culture, showing anything but what Christianity is truly about.

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Choose one theme, one character, one symbol, and one motif.  Write an introductory paragraph to a paper in which you will discuss how these literary elements support and illuminate the theme.  Then, write one body paragraph about one of the elements.  Use text evidence with proper internal documentation