Essay #1

Alienating Adah

Adah Price is the silent hero in the novel Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, literally. Born with a genetic disorder Adah deals with alienation from the moment her deficit was discovered. Throughout the novel we witness as Adah's disorder affects her lives and the lives around her in both a negative and positive light. Adah's appearance forces her to be exiled by her family, surroundings, and ultimately herself. 

Adah is isolated from Western Society because she limps when she walks, this limp also isolates her from her family as well. The Price family is very naive, obviously from the decision to move to Africa on a whim yet another huge point. Their daughter has the ability to comprehend knowledge beyond all of their abilities combined. "but Adah can't, she is bad on one whole side and doesn't talk because she is brain-damaged and also hates us all," this quote recited by Ruth May shows the misconception of Adah the family has. Adah is not brain damaged, in fact she has the ability to create palindromes just from hearing words. They can't see past her outer appearance which is ironic because the Price family supposedly live by the way of God, accepting everyone into their hearts. 


Prejudice plays a major role in the Congo community throughout the Posionwood Bible. The Native isolate the Price Family because they refuse to adapt to their way of life and the Price Family isolates the natives because they feel superior to them. In contrast to the Price Family the Congo community exile Adah not because of her disability but because of her skin color. They associate her paleness with the stubbornness and oblivion shown by her father. In reality Adah Price is the only of the Price who adapts to her surroundings and by the end of her stay in the Congo begins to accepts the views and beliefs of the town in which she resides.

The most ironic part of the whole story is that Adah's physical ability holds her back mentally isolating her from her true self. "I never much imagined myself as a woman grown, anyway, and nowadays especially it seems a waste of imagination," this quote said by Adah shows her pessimistic attitude towards herself. In the end the story reveals that possibly throughout Adah's whole life she has had the ability to rid herself of the limp but her mental state held her back. Adah exiles herself from all the opportunities life could have held for her.

A main theme shown through out the Poisonwood Bible is the effect isolation has on a person. In Adah's case the exile from her family and community made her ultimately exile herself. In the end it is evident that if Adah had not had this exile in her life she would not have gained the knowledge and dedication for her life in the end of the story which proved her alienation an overall enriching experience. Adah was the total embodiment of the story, without her it would be a completely different novel.