The conditions to which the Price family women are subjected gives each member a unique perspective on the effects of Western imperialist ideals based on her individual disposition and therefore exemplify them as the ideal narrators of the story. These dispositions, of course, grow and evolve with each character as the story progresses and in response to key events throughout the novel. As Kilpatrick explains, “by granting her female characters language and the opportunity to speak, Kingsolver makes their experiences the kernel that needs interpretation.” How these characters are affected by Nathan’s religious rhetoric differs somewhat from character to character, but it is clear that the overall effect is a negative one. Additionally, religion “operates as a larger framework for organizing [those experiences] in acts of shared life with other people,” and each character similarly represents a larger attitude. One of the main reasons why Nathan’s voice is not spoken directly through the narrative as the rest of his family’s voices are is because of how pervasive and influential it is. As such, it can be defined more accurately through his rhetoric’s effect on other characters, particular his wife and daughters. When asked if she had ever written a draft in which Nathan had his own voice, Kingsolver responds, “Never…This is not his story”. Nathan’s misuse of language “signifies the emptiness behind his own rhetoric,” and “[his] empty words achieve nothing because he does not take the time to understand the culture he is preaching to.” By comparison, each of Nathan’s daughters and his wife offer more nuanced insight, including that which pertains to Nathan himself. In spite of this, they are not without their flaws, and Kingsolver uses every facet of personality to convey her message as effectively as possible. As New York Times writer Michiko Kakutani point out, Orleanna is not completely without fault, and she is “a symbol of the not-so-innocent bystander, whose own passivity keeps her from speaking up against the crimes of others”. In fact, it is not until Orleanna’s youngest daughter Ruth May is killed by a green mamba snake that she finally musters the courage to remove herself and her remaining daughters from the situation altogether. This point in the story, Kilpatrick says, creates “the opportunity to enter into a solidarity of suffering with the villagers,” but that Nathan’s response “signifies the maniacal colonialism his religion has become.” Indeed, Nathan’s first thought, rather than grief at the loss of his youngest child, was, “She wasn’t baptized yet.” Shortly after this, Orleanna and her daughters leave the village as well as Nathan, who is neither seen nor heard for the remainder of the novel. This choice by Kingsolver shows the significance of the female voices in the novel and provide further proof that Nathan’s voice is a symbolic device whose meaning is derived through the voices of others.
The religious rhetoric employed by Nathan Price in The Poisonwood Bible is the most significant metaphor for the West’s relationship with Africa and its people and speaks volumes about the selfish nature of Western imperialism. Kingsolver frames her novel around Nathan Price and his deeply flawed rhetoric, but the story is ultimately not about him. Instead, the unique voices of the female members of the Price family work to inform the reader of the impact of imposing Western belief systems on a people with their own existing belief systems, as well as the destructive force that comes with a lack of cultural assimilation and cooperation on the part of the imposer. In contrast, Kingsolver’s message is not an indictment of the Christian religion—or indeed religion in general—but rather the misuse of religious rhetoric and the meaningless void that results and does untold damage to cultural values and traditions. The author’s use of different female voices who have all, in some form or another, suffered at the hands of a totalitarian patriarch offer insight about the various attitudes that exist around the topic of Western imperialism. The final product of Barbara Kingsolver’s inspiration and ideas is a book that challenges readers to reexamine their perspectives of world matters and to consider the steps it would take to prevent the kinds of harmful acts perpetrated by the West from ever occurring again.
