Leah Price Ngemba
In Barbara Kingsolvers book The Poisonwood Bible the Price girls each write their own story. The setting is based upon historical facts while the characters are vivid inventions by Kingsolver. In order for the Price family to survive the daughters become part of the Congolese culture. Leah Price depicts this change more than the others. From the arrival of the Price family she is a firm supporter of her father, Nathan Price, but as the novel progresses Leah becomes aware of the self-centered, wrong behavior of her father. Leah rallies her sisters together for their survival by becoming part of the Congolese culture. Leah Price is intelligent and determined, though she loses her Baptist religion she remains idealistic.
Leah uses her intelligence to understand the world around her and to help others. From an early age others see that she is exceptional. When we entered the first grade, we were examined by... Miss Leep, who announced that we were gifted: Leah, on account of her nonchalant dazzling scores on reading-comprehension tests...(56). Leah is able to quickly learn how things work and how to use them. Kingsolver depicts Leah as someone who is able to learn quickly, however, Leah only learns what intrigues her. Leah uses her knowledge of mathematics to teach in Anatoles school. It is at this time she begins to fulfill her need to help others using the tools she has.
In her way, Leah sees being a tomboy as an answer. While Leah was still in Georgia her classmates were being to physically develop. ...I bobbed off my hair and vowed to remain a tomboy (103). This can be seen as a weakness or a strength. Most girls would feel left out and become upset, however, Leah takes an approach that allows her to continue her studies which makes being a tomboy a strength. When Leah is in Africa being a tomboy was more about survival. She is climbs trees to hid and to see all around. Most importantly, she learns how to make a bow and how to use it. This feat is what allows her to help the Price family and then her own family.
Leah feels guilty about things that are out of her control. When her family first arrives in Africa she feels guilt for not being good enough for her father. Nathan Price is trying to teach her a parable between gardening and God, when he asks her a question she is unable to recall the answer quickly. Immediately she degrades herself wanting to suit her father (37). She is only 14 years old, a father could not expect a child to know all he already knows. However, she feels as though she should be able to perfectly recall everything she has ever been told. Leah also feels guilty for being born healthy while Adah is crippled. Then guilt again for leaving her behind when the driver ants came. I am the unmissionary, as Adah would say, beginning every day on my knees asking to be converted (525). In this quote Leah is expressing her guilt of being a white American. Opposite to the missionaries like her father and a younger version of herself, who tries to convert the Africans just like the westerners by forcing their values and beliefs upon them, Leah tries to become entirely part of the African culture. She came full circle, from missionary to unmissionary.
Leah is loyal to what she sees is right or just and her desires evolve as she learns about the world. Again, at this beginning of this novel Leah is loyal to her father and his mission. Leah want to believe in what her father is doing (36). As Leah sees what is going on around her and her family she can see the faults of her father. She sees that he is only in Africa for his own self-centered desires. It is at this time her faith begins to turn. Then the driver ants come. I felt the breath of God go cold on my skin (309-10). Leahs faith undergoes a crisis. Leah turns her faith from God and her father to Anatole. She begins to repeat Anatoles name ...it took the place of prayer (310). Her love for Anatole attaches her to him and sever her ties to her father and his beliefs of God. It is this night Leah feels as if God turned his back on her. As the novel progresses Leah continues to admire Anatole. They marry and she becomes the mother to his children. Together they work to help the people of Africa.
Leahs character progresses throughout this novel becoming more compassionate and determined to help progress. She is ready to stand up for what she believes. Adah claims that Leahs religion is her suffering, but it is more correct to say that she replaces her faith of Baptism with her faith in Anatole, her boys, and her continued pursuit of justice. Leah is the character most capable of showing love and acceptance toward everyone.
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