The Poisonwood Bible- The Revelation

In the second book of The Poisonwood Bible, the Price family continues to struggle through their time in the Congo, which becomes the Republic of Congo by the end of The Revelation thanks to an independence movement. Because of this movement, the Underdowns, another family on a mission trip in the Congo tell the Price family that they will be leaving the Congo shortly. They live in Leopoldville, a town where wealthy white families live in luxury while the poor Congolese "make their homes out of sticks or tin or anything in the world they can find" (page 183). After the Underdowns tell the Price family that their funding is being pulled and that they will send a plane to take them out of the Congo, Nathaniel refuses to leave, condemning them to stay there for the foreseeable future.

Reverend

As the book goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult to sympathize with Nathaniel (the Reverend) Price. Throughout the second book, he takes several actions that hurt his family, which puts them in an increasingly worse position. The first mistake he makes, without thinking of the incredible burden it would place on his wife, Orleanna, was driving away Mama Tataba. He also physically abuses her and Leah, which makes him even harder to tolerate. The nail in the coffin is when he selfishly, despite the extreme protests of his wife and eldest child, new government, and being explicitly told by the Mission League, refuses to leave the Congo. It is extremely difficult to have an open mind about this character, but from his perspective all the work and suffering he has endured will go to waste if they leave the Congo. I sincerely hope that we are able to peer into his mind eventually because only then will we truly be able to understand his justifications for his actions. 

Orleanna

Without Mama Tataba, Orleanna is left with no choice but to do all of the cooking (including gathering firewood and water), which adds even more work to her plate on top of taking care of four kids. Despite this, she tries her best to help her family in whatever way she can. When Anatole, a translator and ambassador for Tata Ndu, the chief of Kilanga, comes to visit, she tries her best to make a good meal and makes sure to set out their nice tablecloth and plates. However, Nathaniel is upset by Anatole (who leaves), and turns his anger towards Orleanna for seemingly no reason. He breaks her favorite plate because she was "getting too fond" of it, and insults her and her cooking. Afterwards, like many victims of abuse, she shrinks back and stays silent for the rest of the night. The whole exchange sells the picture of Orleanna as a mother who is trying to do the best for her kids despite the countless failures of her husband. It is hard not to wish the best for her as she fights to keep her family alive and healthy in the Congo.

Rachel

Throughout The Revelation, we can watch as Rachel begins to go crazy from being in the Congo for so long. Despite being the oldest, she throws a babyish temper tantrum when her father says they won't be going home anytime soon, which externalizes her feelings of helplessness. When she narrates, she thinks about boys and home constantly, like a typical teenage girl, and she acts and talks like one as well. She has not adapted and will not adapt to life in the Congo, and any chance she had of just being a normal teenage girl like she wants to be is stripped by her father's determination. As she stays in the Congo for longer and longer, I could easily see her stop feeling resistant and just become numb to the world around her.

Leah

Leah's sense of identity begins to falter after she is struck by her father for acting "too prideful" (keeping an owl as a pet). However, instead of realizing or coming to terms with her father's flaws, she desperately seeks to regain his approval. Her previously one-dimensional nature changes as her sense of self begins to crack as she feels jealousy towards her twin and subconsciously knows her father isn't perfect. I believe that Leah has the potential to become a phenomenal character as we watch her internal battle between being herself and pleasing her father.

Adah

Adah was a significantly less enjoyable character to read from the perspective of in The Revelation. Her obsession with words being repeated forwards and backwards (often with mistakes) only leads to occasional sentences which are half random words and half gibberish. Instead of her previous sarcastic and thoughtful tone, she now comes across as nondescript and verbose. I am disappointed in the shift in writing style because there is no justification for it. If she had been yelled at by her father or something of the like, there would at least be a reason for her sudden change in voice. I hope to see her sarcastic self shine through in the following books, yet I doubt her time in the Congo will do anything but diminish that quality of hers. 

Though we have now seen more of Ruth May, I still chose to exclude her because her perspectives offer us more insight on others than herself. Her perspectives are always interesting because despite providing us with new, exclusive information (particularly on Nathaniel, whom we haven't heard from yet), we have to take whatever she says with a grain of salt. I also chose to exclude Anatole because although he is becoming a more prominent character, we only have access to limited interactions with him as of now. I look forward to seeing the plot of the novel pick up, as it has been very slow thus far. However, with the most recent chapters, I believe that The Judges will likely be where thing really take off.