Humans vs Animals

 

The Congo. A place just overflowing with majestic and eye-popping creatures.  From the ants scrambling in the dirt to the sly snakes slithering in the grass up to the birds squawking in the trees. Amazingly, the purposes and desires lived out by the characters of Poisonwood Bible can be reflected by some of the animals roaming around in the Congo.

When Nathan Price comes to mind, I can’t help but think of a misled and selfish man, not a bird capable of soaring in the sky.  But really they have a ton in common. Methuselah was a bird trapped in a cage, much like Nathan is a prisoner of his beliefs. Like a criminal who chooses to remain in his chains, Nathan and Methuselah will not use the opportunities given to them to be freed.  Nathan could let go of the control he feels when shoving a wrongly interpreted religion down peoples’ throats.  And Methuselah is allowed out of his cage, but what does he do?  He lingers around the house when there is much more out there. Good Therapy explains that control is most often a reaction to fear. Both Nathan and Methuselah are afraid of what is in store for them in the future, so they cling to the security of control. In the end, they both become vulnerable which leads to the destruction of their lives.

Being compared to a snake isn’t something I can tell you about first-hand but having known a few I will say that those jerks are manipulative. Tata Kuvundu is a very fitting example from Poisonwood Bible. Much like a snake that creeps on his victims, Tatu Kuvunda plans out his attack on his own victims, the Price family.  Wanting to scare them away from this territory, he coincidently plants snakes around the beds in the Price home. To make matters worse, one of those snakes ends the life of the very young and innocent Ruth May.

If you think about it, the people of the Congo and ants have a ton of similarities. Even Time Magazine says, “Some [entomologists] insist that the ant is brainier and better organized than man….” Each member of the community uses their own unique skills, whether it is collecting food or maintaining the village. The only way for them to survive is to work together in any way possible, exactly like the Congonese people.