Leah in The Poisonwood Bible Essay

Leah Price was visualized in the Poisonwood Bible as the idealistic fourteen-year-old tomboy, who worships her father and believes fully in his God. Through the use of specific word choices and unique sentence structures, Kingsolver was able to show her readers that Leah Price was a very compassionate girl who leaves her fathers religion to fight for the Congoleses well being because her idealism.

Leah was one of Orleanna and Nathans four daughters. She also seemed like the only normal one compared to her other three sisters Rachel, Adah, and Ruth May. Leah was a daddys girl, because she was always attached to her father which is why she would do only things that he would approve of. This was detected through her Christian like word choices and actions influenced by her father. He stood his ground, my father, tall as Goliath and pure of heart as David.(40). Using biblical icons as a comparison to her father draws the reader into believing that Leah really does praise her father. She also showed fear towards him, I peeped up from my book. Oh, dear lord. He was staring directly at me. My heart palpitated fiercely.(67), the way Kingsolver used short sentences one right after another brings out the fear in her tone, the fear she has for her father. The structure of Leahs sentences and choices of words shows the reader that she really intimidated by him; however that intimidation didnt last for ever because she began hating him and everything he believed.

As they faced conflicts, another side of Leah became visible to the reader. Although shes always been a caring person, she began to be concern about the Congolese people and the way they lived. Nathan on the other hand didnt try to understand the Congolese people, but only tried to force them into Christianity. Leah was very idealistic, which is why she began realizing that she doesnt want to be like her father, so slowly she began switching sides. She began learning about the Congoleses way of life and also started following it. Thats the principal trick of Congolese cooking: rubbing two leaves (448), her choices of words gives her an instructive tone, and the authors use of a colon is a helpful tool to the reader in understanding that Leah is giving instructions of the Congoleses way of cooking and knows what shes talking about. Her use of their dialect also shows how much shes into the Congolese people, Djokupunda! Bandundu! (445).

Leahs character was a changing character through the Poisonwood Bible. She went from being a daddys girl to following her own conscience. From the use of biblical words, to the use of dialect, Kingsolver was able to portray Leahs transformation from the girl who constantly praise her father to the girl who follows her own beliefs.