Heart of Darkness Extended Essay
In Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, a sailor by the name of Marlow travels up the Congo River to meet with Kurtz. Marlow is a riverboat captain through ‘the Company’, and as he is on his journey he sees the cruelty and brutality toward the African natives. Kurtz has a plan to civilize the native Africans, but dies before it is able to be implemented. Internally, Marlow is conflicted in deciding what he believes in, due to the sharp contrast of the cruelty towards the natives and the jungle surrounded by darkness.
Many themes can be seen throughout the book, but the theme of imperialism is the most prominent. This relates back to the internal conflict of Marlow; he sees the torture and brutality of the native Africans and does not do anything about it, but he also feels bad, which is known because he does not resort to Kurtz’s mindset of acquiring ivory. Kurtz believes in taking ivory by force, rather than simply taking the ivory through trade, but Marlow is better knows he is a better person that that.
As a literary technique, Joseph Conrad uses vague and broad language when speaking through Marlow, which further portrays his ambiguous character. Many symbols are also used by Conrad throughout the story. The fog relates back to darkness, as can be seen when Marlow’s steamer gets caught in the fog and he has no idea what is ahead of him. Women represent social status and success, as seen through Marlow’s eyes.
The Congo River symbolizes how close Marlow is to Africa, before he even breaks the surface. It shows the opportunity that he is taking on, which leads him on his journey on the river into the heart of Africa. The Congo River also serves as a connection for white men to reach the heart of Africa, without having to cross through it physically. The natural flow of the Congo River is down, which is towards civilization. It shows the desire to keep Europeans from Africa.
All in all, Joseph Conrad puts lots of literary techniques into use very effectively. Through different symbols, underlying themes, and literary devices, Conrad is able to create a mesmerizing, gloomy story and to get his point across.
Many themes can be seen throughout the book, but the theme of imperialism is the most prominent. This relates back to the internal conflict of Marlow; he sees the torture and brutality of the native Africans and does not do anything about it, but he also feels bad, which is known because he does not resort to Kurtz’s mindset of acquiring ivory. Kurtz believes in taking ivory by force, rather than simply taking the ivory through trade, but Marlow is better knows he is a better person that that.
As a literary technique, Joseph Conrad uses vague and broad language when speaking through Marlow, which further portrays his ambiguous character. Many symbols are also used by Conrad throughout the story. The fog relates back to darkness, as can be seen when Marlow’s steamer gets caught in the fog and he has no idea what is ahead of him. Women represent social status and success, as seen through Marlow’s eyes.
The Congo River symbolizes how close Marlow is to Africa, before he even breaks the surface. It shows the opportunity that he is taking on, which leads him on his journey on the river into the heart of Africa. The Congo River also serves as a connection for white men to reach the heart of Africa, without having to cross through it physically. The natural flow of the Congo River is down, which is towards civilization. It shows the desire to keep Europeans from Africa.
All in all, Joseph Conrad puts lots of literary techniques into use very effectively. Through different symbols, underlying themes, and literary devices, Conrad is able to create a mesmerizing, gloomy story and to get his point across.
"The Hollow Men" essay prompt
Just from reading line one of the poem, I believe "we are the hollow men" relates to the men in Heart of Darkness and their lack of empathy for the brutality towards the African natives. The Hollow Men focuses more overall on the meaning of life within the characters. These two pieces of literature are very similar in their mood of characters.
The Hollow Men states that they are "shape without form, shade without colour, paralysed force, gesture without motion", which shows that they have no true meaning in their life. There is no personality or substance behind them. This is similar to Kurtz, because his life lacks meaning as well. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow states that "Kurtz was an impenetrable darkness" (64), which shows he was intoxicated with his greed for ivory, and his morals were lacking.
These two pieces of literature also relate in their general theme of quest and failure. In Heart of Darkness, although Kurtz was relatively successful in exploring the 'heart of Africa', he failed overall due to how it changed him as a person. As Grover Smith states, the main connection between the two pieces is "debasement through the rejection of good, of despair through consequent guilt" (Modern American Poetry). In The Hollow Men, this can be seen in "let we also wear such deliberate disguises" because it shows that they are rejecting the morality and good of who they were before and only becoming closer to "death's dream kingdom".
All in all, The Hollow Men and Heart of Darkness go hand in hand. Although they relate in more ways than one, their similarity in theme is the most prominent connection.
The Hollow Men states that they are "shape without form, shade without colour, paralysed force, gesture without motion", which shows that they have no true meaning in their life. There is no personality or substance behind them. This is similar to Kurtz, because his life lacks meaning as well. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow states that "Kurtz was an impenetrable darkness" (64), which shows he was intoxicated with his greed for ivory, and his morals were lacking.
These two pieces of literature also relate in their general theme of quest and failure. In Heart of Darkness, although Kurtz was relatively successful in exploring the 'heart of Africa', he failed overall due to how it changed him as a person. As Grover Smith states, the main connection between the two pieces is "debasement through the rejection of good, of despair through consequent guilt" (Modern American Poetry). In The Hollow Men, this can be seen in "let we also wear such deliberate disguises" because it shows that they are rejecting the morality and good of who they were before and only becoming closer to "death's dream kingdom".
All in all, The Hollow Men and Heart of Darkness go hand in hand. Although they relate in more ways than one, their similarity in theme is the most prominent connection.
Novella essay
In The Stranger and Metamorphosis, both authors demonstrated the absurdist nature of the novellas. In each of the stories, the main character delves into deep internal conflicts. The Stranger is an absurdist fiction, so the novella revolves around the role of society, the purpose of life, ethics, morals, and the role of experience, which are portrayed through the main character, Mersault. This literary work analyzes the central question of the novella through Mersault as he struggles to determine whether or not life has meaning.
Mersault tries to decipher his role in society as he encounters many different characters in the story. The reader can already gather a sense of how Mersault’s idea of life’s meaning is questionable when he originally receives the telegram that informs him of his mother’s death. Instead of being overwhelmed with sadness, he seems to be indifferent about the entirety of the situation. He travels down to Marengo where his mother lays in her coffin, but he declines the offer to open the coffin and see his mother one last time. Mersault’s lack of emotion is especially portrayed through his actions and behaviors around the coffin. He goes on to smoke, drink coffee, and nap by the coffin. After the funeral that day, he returns to his home in Algiers as if nothing had happened.
In Algiers, Mersault goes to the beach and runs into Marie Cardona, a woman he used to work with. They go to see a movie and end up spending the night together. Marie serves as an outlet for Mersault to try and feel as though there is meaning to his life. However, when he wakes up and she is not there, he is not distraught whatsoever. A few days later, she goes back to Mersault’s apartment and questions him about his love for her. He tells her that he didn’t think it meant anything, which again shows his lack of emotion. Later on in the story, when she asks if he wants to marry her, he shows no feelings for her but carelessly says that they can get married if she wants to. His relationship with Marie continues to be his strive for a deeper meaning to his life, which he struggles to find.
At one point, the cops show up at Raymond’s apartment which is right next door to Mersault’s apartment. Raymond is being summoned to court for beating his mistress, and after simply asking Mersault to testify for him, he agrees with no second thoughts, which proves he has no moral schema of what is right and what is wrong. Later, Mersault, Raymond, and Marie go to the beach with friends. When they are walking on the beach, they run into two Arabs. One of them stabs Raymond because he is the brother of Raymond’s mistress. Raymond is fine and ponders going back and shooting the stabber, but Mersault convinces him out of it. However, Mersault continues to go back and shoot the Arab himself, leading to his immediate arrest. Mersault’s desire to shoot the Arab himself shows his utter disregard of consequence.
In court, the case transitions from trying him for murder to trying him for his dangerous mentality, as the judges begin to realize that he has absolutely no remorse for anything, even dating back to his mother’s death. Mersault adjusts to prison life without much difficulty, and on the day of his summation he is sentenced to death. When the chaplain visits him to convince him that, at this point, he should turn to God in such a desperate time. He gets mad at the chaplain and continues to say that life is meaningless, at which time he accepts the idea of his life having no true meaning.
Mersault’s realization and acceptance at the end of the book that life is pointless is portrayed through many different characters and events throughout the story. The characters and events all contribute to the central question that is shown throughout the whole book, where Mersault is experimenting with life and struggling to determine whether or not his life has meaning.
Mersault tries to decipher his role in society as he encounters many different characters in the story. The reader can already gather a sense of how Mersault’s idea of life’s meaning is questionable when he originally receives the telegram that informs him of his mother’s death. Instead of being overwhelmed with sadness, he seems to be indifferent about the entirety of the situation. He travels down to Marengo where his mother lays in her coffin, but he declines the offer to open the coffin and see his mother one last time. Mersault’s lack of emotion is especially portrayed through his actions and behaviors around the coffin. He goes on to smoke, drink coffee, and nap by the coffin. After the funeral that day, he returns to his home in Algiers as if nothing had happened.
In Algiers, Mersault goes to the beach and runs into Marie Cardona, a woman he used to work with. They go to see a movie and end up spending the night together. Marie serves as an outlet for Mersault to try and feel as though there is meaning to his life. However, when he wakes up and she is not there, he is not distraught whatsoever. A few days later, she goes back to Mersault’s apartment and questions him about his love for her. He tells her that he didn’t think it meant anything, which again shows his lack of emotion. Later on in the story, when she asks if he wants to marry her, he shows no feelings for her but carelessly says that they can get married if she wants to. His relationship with Marie continues to be his strive for a deeper meaning to his life, which he struggles to find.
At one point, the cops show up at Raymond’s apartment which is right next door to Mersault’s apartment. Raymond is being summoned to court for beating his mistress, and after simply asking Mersault to testify for him, he agrees with no second thoughts, which proves he has no moral schema of what is right and what is wrong. Later, Mersault, Raymond, and Marie go to the beach with friends. When they are walking on the beach, they run into two Arabs. One of them stabs Raymond because he is the brother of Raymond’s mistress. Raymond is fine and ponders going back and shooting the stabber, but Mersault convinces him out of it. However, Mersault continues to go back and shoot the Arab himself, leading to his immediate arrest. Mersault’s desire to shoot the Arab himself shows his utter disregard of consequence.
In court, the case transitions from trying him for murder to trying him for his dangerous mentality, as the judges begin to realize that he has absolutely no remorse for anything, even dating back to his mother’s death. Mersault adjusts to prison life without much difficulty, and on the day of his summation he is sentenced to death. When the chaplain visits him to convince him that, at this point, he should turn to God in such a desperate time. He gets mad at the chaplain and continues to say that life is meaningless, at which time he accepts the idea of his life having no true meaning.
Mersault’s realization and acceptance at the end of the book that life is pointless is portrayed through many different characters and events throughout the story. The characters and events all contribute to the central question that is shown throughout the whole book, where Mersault is experimenting with life and struggling to determine whether or not his life has meaning.
God of Small Things extended essay
Postmodern themes are very prominent in God of Small Things and play a significant role in the text. Arundhati Roy uses many postmodern themes, which are portrayed in different ways throughout the story. The author uses time shifts to show the postmodern themes, such as certain myths and unrealistic occurrences, allusions to older texts, religion, and forbidden love that are exemplified in the text.
The time shifts used throughout the story allows the reader to interpret the end of the book imaginatively, since technically the text ends in the middle of the story. At some points, these shifts occur through the mention of the History House, which is when the narrative goes back in time to their childhood perspective. As Chacko says, “To understand history, we have to go inside and listen to what they’re saying”. Speaking metaphorically of the History House, Chacko is referring to the ancestors that they can learn and further understand their past from, but only if they go back in time to their childhood perspective in the ‘house’.
Throughout the story, Rahel and Estha were always able to stay extremely connected through their thoughts and emotions. They had a sense of near telepathy in this connection, which is a mythical idea that came from postmodern times. As Roy said, “Rahel never wrote to him. There are things that you can’t do – like writing letters to a part of yourself”, this shows that the twins didn’t even have to stay in contact with each other to feel like they could communicate. At one point, Roy also states “Something altered in the air, and Rahel knew that Estha had come. She didn’t turn her head, but a slow glow spread inside her”, which shows that the twins can sense each other’s presence.
The novel also uses many allusions to older texts, like Heart of Darkness. When they refer to the History House as an actual house and not metaphorically, they say that it ‘looms in the Heart of Darkness’. And similar to Heart of Darkness, a river must be crossed to reach the History House. The caste system in India is also representative of the time shifts because, although it is not legal anymore, they still find themselves trapped by the past.
Overall, the postmodern theme of mythical ideas was most significant, since it portrayed the strange relationship and constant unity of the twins. Roy used mythical ideas, along with other postmodern themes, as the characters went back and forth trying to further understand their past.
The time shifts used throughout the story allows the reader to interpret the end of the book imaginatively, since technically the text ends in the middle of the story. At some points, these shifts occur through the mention of the History House, which is when the narrative goes back in time to their childhood perspective. As Chacko says, “To understand history, we have to go inside and listen to what they’re saying”. Speaking metaphorically of the History House, Chacko is referring to the ancestors that they can learn and further understand their past from, but only if they go back in time to their childhood perspective in the ‘house’.
Throughout the story, Rahel and Estha were always able to stay extremely connected through their thoughts and emotions. They had a sense of near telepathy in this connection, which is a mythical idea that came from postmodern times. As Roy said, “Rahel never wrote to him. There are things that you can’t do – like writing letters to a part of yourself”, this shows that the twins didn’t even have to stay in contact with each other to feel like they could communicate. At one point, Roy also states “Something altered in the air, and Rahel knew that Estha had come. She didn’t turn her head, but a slow glow spread inside her”, which shows that the twins can sense each other’s presence.
The novel also uses many allusions to older texts, like Heart of Darkness. When they refer to the History House as an actual house and not metaphorically, they say that it ‘looms in the Heart of Darkness’. And similar to Heart of Darkness, a river must be crossed to reach the History House. The caste system in India is also representative of the time shifts because, although it is not legal anymore, they still find themselves trapped by the past.
Overall, the postmodern theme of mythical ideas was most significant, since it portrayed the strange relationship and constant unity of the twins. Roy used mythical ideas, along with other postmodern themes, as the characters went back and forth trying to further understand their past.
Literary Research Paper
In my research, I explore what happens psychologically to children that move during their childhood to a place of poverty and instability, surrounded by discrimination, and how they respond and react to this situation. Therefore, I analyze the effects this has on them psychologically in their adulthood. This is portrayed in the Poisonwood Bible, where Barbara Kingsolver conveys the family as moving, while the kids were at an early stage of their life, from Georgia to the impoverished village of Kilanga in the Belgian Congo. The psychological effects will further be analyzed as Kingsolver writes about the children later in their life. It is further explored whether the personalities that the children end up with are innate or acquired through their experiences.
The family moves to the village of Kilanga when Rachel is about fifteen years old. At this age, she has already passed through major behavioral developments, but she could still be in some sort of transitional stage, such as puberty. The reader comes to realize that she is selfish and only really cares about herself, since upon her arrival in Kilanga, she does not feel the need to interact with or help the impoverished villagers. Her personality does not change much after experiencing life in Kilanga, because it was easy for her to dissociate herself from the culture there and to make herself the main focus of her attention. Rachel, at one point, says “I wanted to live under the safe protection of somebody who wore decent clothes, bought meat from the grocery store like the Good Lord intended, and cared about others”, which shows her materialistic nature.
After her experience in Kilanga, Rachel stayed relatively the same. She remained extremely egotistical, and had a lack of empathy for others. According to psychologytoday.com, moving effects children psychologically in that they are unable to acquire quality, long-term relationships (psychologytoday.com). This is the only way that we see Rachel being effected psychologically. Her good looks got her many wealthy husbands over the years, but none of which she shared a genuine long-term relationship with, obviously speaking since she had multiple husbands. One of her husbands ends up buying her a hotel, so she stays with him, unsurprisingly so, since she is then surrounded by money and wealth.
Leah is about fourteen years old when the family moves to Kilanga. At the age of fourteen, she is still going through some major psychological developmental stages, but not as much as the younger children. Unlike with Rachel, the move changed things for Leah. Before they had moved, she had full faith in God, and supported her father’s views unwaveringly. However, after arriving and being shocked at the poverty and different lifestyle and culture of the villagers, her mentality shifts. She no longer undoubtedly supports her father, but instead branches off and is more intrigued of the villagers. She supports the villagers full-heartedly, which can be seen when she says “I've heard foreign visitors complain that the Congolese are greedy, naive, and inefficient. They have no idea. The Congolese are skilled at survival and perceptive beyond belief or else dead at an early age”. She is much more perceptive and appreciative of the villagers.
The support given to the villagers by Leah at this developmental stage of her life lead her to want to dedicate the rest of her life to it. As she grows up, she ends up marrying Anatole. Seeing the villagers’ way of life and hearing some of their views, which she wasn’t exposed to before, leads her to want to lead a life of significance by helping the kids of Kilanga that were less fortunate than she was. The move did affect her psychologically, because she gained independence and individuality. She did not feel as though she had to follow her father’s views, but instead recognizes her own views and starts to have a mind of her own. Therefore, she is intrigued with helping the villagers, which follows her into adulthood.
Adah is hemiplegic as a child, which means that she can only use one side of her body (hemihelp.org). She is never sad about her disability, and she doesn’t pity herself for it. Instead, she considers herself an observer of the society around her, but not an active participant. This can especially be seen when she says “I continued to stare at the traffic light, which glowed red. Suddenly a green arrow popped on, pointing left, and the row of cars like obedient animals all went left. I laughed out loud”, because it’s is almost as if she is mocking society. She is completely fine with her life, but when she comes to Kilanga, the poverty of the village causes her to open up slightly. The poverty surrounding her forces her to care and to take part in society.
After being involved with the villagers and realizing that she enjoys participating and helping people in poverty, she continues helping people into her adulthood. She ends up studying science so that she can become an epidemiologist, which means she studies diseases within populations of people (publichealthonline.org). This is an obvious result of the years she spent with the Congolese.
Ruth May is about five years old when the family moves to Kilanga, which is an extremely significant period in psychological development. She is bold and always looking for an adventure, so she immediately befriends the children of the village. She is a lively spirit around the village, until she comes down with malaria. This completely dampens her spirit and causes her to become quiet. Unfortunately, her life is ended when she is killed by a green mamba snake. However, she comes back as the Eyes in the Trees, which serves as her reflecting back on their lives, and comforting her family that her death was not their fault. Ruth May says “Being dead is not worse than being alive. It is different, though. You could say the view is larger,” which shows how reflective she is able to be as the Eyes in the Trees.
While it slightly depends on what the child’s personality was prior to moving to a place of poverty, the exposure to the impoverished psychologically changes the child’s views for the better. However, Rachel is an exception, since she is materialistic and selfish when she moves there, and the poverty of Kilanga only causes her to ignore it and focus on herself, which continued on later in her life. The move did not occur early enough in her psychological development, as she was already fifteen, to have affected her much. Leah and Adah both go on to dedicate the rest of their lives to improving on issues they experienced while they were in the village. The Poisonwood Bible also exemplifies how psychological development is more significant during the earlier stages of childhood, since Leah and Adah were affected for the better, and Rachel already being out of the developmental stage of her childhood, was not really affected at all.
Works Cited
Darling, Nancy. "Moving is tough for kids." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 11 July 2010. Web. 01 May 2017. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201007/moving-is-tough-kids>.
"What is hemiplegia?" What is hemiplegia? | HemiHelp: for children and young people with hemiplegia (hemiparesis). N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017. <http://www.hemihelp.org.uk/hemiplegia/what_is_hemiplegia>.
"Epidemiology Careers | PublicHealth.org." Public Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017. <http://www.publichealthonline.org/epidemiology/>.
The family moves to the village of Kilanga when Rachel is about fifteen years old. At this age, she has already passed through major behavioral developments, but she could still be in some sort of transitional stage, such as puberty. The reader comes to realize that she is selfish and only really cares about herself, since upon her arrival in Kilanga, she does not feel the need to interact with or help the impoverished villagers. Her personality does not change much after experiencing life in Kilanga, because it was easy for her to dissociate herself from the culture there and to make herself the main focus of her attention. Rachel, at one point, says “I wanted to live under the safe protection of somebody who wore decent clothes, bought meat from the grocery store like the Good Lord intended, and cared about others”, which shows her materialistic nature.
After her experience in Kilanga, Rachel stayed relatively the same. She remained extremely egotistical, and had a lack of empathy for others. According to psychologytoday.com, moving effects children psychologically in that they are unable to acquire quality, long-term relationships (psychologytoday.com). This is the only way that we see Rachel being effected psychologically. Her good looks got her many wealthy husbands over the years, but none of which she shared a genuine long-term relationship with, obviously speaking since she had multiple husbands. One of her husbands ends up buying her a hotel, so she stays with him, unsurprisingly so, since she is then surrounded by money and wealth.
Leah is about fourteen years old when the family moves to Kilanga. At the age of fourteen, she is still going through some major psychological developmental stages, but not as much as the younger children. Unlike with Rachel, the move changed things for Leah. Before they had moved, she had full faith in God, and supported her father’s views unwaveringly. However, after arriving and being shocked at the poverty and different lifestyle and culture of the villagers, her mentality shifts. She no longer undoubtedly supports her father, but instead branches off and is more intrigued of the villagers. She supports the villagers full-heartedly, which can be seen when she says “I've heard foreign visitors complain that the Congolese are greedy, naive, and inefficient. They have no idea. The Congolese are skilled at survival and perceptive beyond belief or else dead at an early age”. She is much more perceptive and appreciative of the villagers.
The support given to the villagers by Leah at this developmental stage of her life lead her to want to dedicate the rest of her life to it. As she grows up, she ends up marrying Anatole. Seeing the villagers’ way of life and hearing some of their views, which she wasn’t exposed to before, leads her to want to lead a life of significance by helping the kids of Kilanga that were less fortunate than she was. The move did affect her psychologically, because she gained independence and individuality. She did not feel as though she had to follow her father’s views, but instead recognizes her own views and starts to have a mind of her own. Therefore, she is intrigued with helping the villagers, which follows her into adulthood.
Adah is hemiplegic as a child, which means that she can only use one side of her body (hemihelp.org). She is never sad about her disability, and she doesn’t pity herself for it. Instead, she considers herself an observer of the society around her, but not an active participant. This can especially be seen when she says “I continued to stare at the traffic light, which glowed red. Suddenly a green arrow popped on, pointing left, and the row of cars like obedient animals all went left. I laughed out loud”, because it’s is almost as if she is mocking society. She is completely fine with her life, but when she comes to Kilanga, the poverty of the village causes her to open up slightly. The poverty surrounding her forces her to care and to take part in society.
After being involved with the villagers and realizing that she enjoys participating and helping people in poverty, she continues helping people into her adulthood. She ends up studying science so that she can become an epidemiologist, which means she studies diseases within populations of people (publichealthonline.org). This is an obvious result of the years she spent with the Congolese.
Ruth May is about five years old when the family moves to Kilanga, which is an extremely significant period in psychological development. She is bold and always looking for an adventure, so she immediately befriends the children of the village. She is a lively spirit around the village, until she comes down with malaria. This completely dampens her spirit and causes her to become quiet. Unfortunately, her life is ended when she is killed by a green mamba snake. However, she comes back as the Eyes in the Trees, which serves as her reflecting back on their lives, and comforting her family that her death was not their fault. Ruth May says “Being dead is not worse than being alive. It is different, though. You could say the view is larger,” which shows how reflective she is able to be as the Eyes in the Trees.
While it slightly depends on what the child’s personality was prior to moving to a place of poverty, the exposure to the impoverished psychologically changes the child’s views for the better. However, Rachel is an exception, since she is materialistic and selfish when she moves there, and the poverty of Kilanga only causes her to ignore it and focus on herself, which continued on later in her life. The move did not occur early enough in her psychological development, as she was already fifteen, to have affected her much. Leah and Adah both go on to dedicate the rest of their lives to improving on issues they experienced while they were in the village. The Poisonwood Bible also exemplifies how psychological development is more significant during the earlier stages of childhood, since Leah and Adah were affected for the better, and Rachel already being out of the developmental stage of her childhood, was not really affected at all.
Works Cited
Darling, Nancy. "Moving is tough for kids." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 11 July 2010. Web. 01 May 2017. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201007/moving-is-tough-kids>.
"What is hemiplegia?" What is hemiplegia? | HemiHelp: for children and young people with hemiplegia (hemiparesis). N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017. <http://www.hemihelp.org.uk/hemiplegia/what_is_hemiplegia>.
"Epidemiology Careers | PublicHealth.org." Public Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017. <http://www.publichealthonline.org/epidemiology/>.
Poisonwood Bible extended essay
The voice of Orleanna contributes to the meaning of the novel as a whole in many ways. Her overarching protective tone is the most prominent aspect of her character. The diction, detail, syntax, and sensory language used by her are also valuable to her voice’s contribution to the meaning of the novel as a whole, as she tries to keep her family on the path of redemption and salvation on their life journey in Africa.
Orleanna uses religious diction which shows her loyalty to the faith, and her support of Reverend and her family’s mission of redemption and salvation. This can be seen in “You can curse the dead or pray for them, but don't expect them to do a thing for you. They're far too interested in watching us, to see what in heaven's name we will do next” (4). She uses it often to instill the same morals in her daughters, as she strives to raise them to the best of her ability. She uses vivid detail, especially when describing something she feels passionate about, since she remembers it so clearly.
The syntax portrayed through Orleanna is continuous, by using some lengthier sentences and rhetorical questioning, which can be seen in “Your King Baudouin is living off the fat of this land… and leaving it up to penniless mission doctors and selfless men like my husband to take care of their every simple need. Is that how a father rules?” (2). She does this because she is a very observant person, so she has lots of thoughts that she piles into different sentences. Her observations contribute to her wisdom over the years, as she gains insight about how her family can achieve true redemption and salvation.
The sensory language used by Orleanna again shows how seriously she takes her maternal responsibility. She notices many of the things around her, as can be seen in “Every few years, even now, I catch the scent of Africa. Ripe fruits, acrid sweat, urine, flowers, dark spices” (2), which shows she is always alert and aware of her surroundings for the safety of her family.
Orleanna’s voice contributes to the meaning of the family as a whole because she has an overall protective tone. When they move to Africa in the first place it is because she thinks that the trip will bring herself and her family redemption and salvation, by their spreading of Christianity to the villagers. When Reverend wants to have a baptism but the villagers refuse, Orleanna is happy to prepare supper for the villagers after church. She does this because she notices that the villagers are becoming annoyed and resistant to Reverend’s ideals, and she wants to keep her family liked by the villagers since they are there on a mission of redemption.
As the book goes on, her voice alters. She realizes that they are no longer bringing redemption to the villagers, since they are so against Reverend. She begins to stress more over the safety and salvation of her family, and knows that Africa is not a good place for them anymore. Her protectiveness truly kicks in when she starts to try to move back home, even though this angers Reverend since he still believes he must stay and preach the word of God. Her persistence in trying to get her family out of Africa shows that she takes her maternal role in the family very seriously, which can be heard through her voice as she continues to strive to keep her family on the path towards redemption and salvation.
Orleanna uses religious diction which shows her loyalty to the faith, and her support of Reverend and her family’s mission of redemption and salvation. This can be seen in “You can curse the dead or pray for them, but don't expect them to do a thing for you. They're far too interested in watching us, to see what in heaven's name we will do next” (4). She uses it often to instill the same morals in her daughters, as she strives to raise them to the best of her ability. She uses vivid detail, especially when describing something she feels passionate about, since she remembers it so clearly.
The syntax portrayed through Orleanna is continuous, by using some lengthier sentences and rhetorical questioning, which can be seen in “Your King Baudouin is living off the fat of this land… and leaving it up to penniless mission doctors and selfless men like my husband to take care of their every simple need. Is that how a father rules?” (2). She does this because she is a very observant person, so she has lots of thoughts that she piles into different sentences. Her observations contribute to her wisdom over the years, as she gains insight about how her family can achieve true redemption and salvation.
The sensory language used by Orleanna again shows how seriously she takes her maternal responsibility. She notices many of the things around her, as can be seen in “Every few years, even now, I catch the scent of Africa. Ripe fruits, acrid sweat, urine, flowers, dark spices” (2), which shows she is always alert and aware of her surroundings for the safety of her family.
Orleanna’s voice contributes to the meaning of the family as a whole because she has an overall protective tone. When they move to Africa in the first place it is because she thinks that the trip will bring herself and her family redemption and salvation, by their spreading of Christianity to the villagers. When Reverend wants to have a baptism but the villagers refuse, Orleanna is happy to prepare supper for the villagers after church. She does this because she notices that the villagers are becoming annoyed and resistant to Reverend’s ideals, and she wants to keep her family liked by the villagers since they are there on a mission of redemption.
As the book goes on, her voice alters. She realizes that they are no longer bringing redemption to the villagers, since they are so against Reverend. She begins to stress more over the safety and salvation of her family, and knows that Africa is not a good place for them anymore. Her protectiveness truly kicks in when she starts to try to move back home, even though this angers Reverend since he still believes he must stay and preach the word of God. Her persistence in trying to get her family out of Africa shows that she takes her maternal role in the family very seriously, which can be heard through her voice as she continues to strive to keep her family on the path towards redemption and salvation.