Adah's Perspective

The Poisonwood Bible

Adah’s Perspective of the Congo

The Price family is comprised of six people: Orleanna, Nathan, Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May. Each and every one of the family members has their own unique characteristics and opinions about the African Congo. Reverend Nathan is obsessed with bringing change to the people of Africa and showing them the correct way to seek God. Rachel is tired of being in the Congo and judges every person she sees there with her Western ways. Adah, though, is very different. Adah is Leah’s twin sister. Adah looks at everything with a totally different perspective than other people. She was born crippled so she knows that she is unique and it can be seen in the way she views the African Congo. Because Adah is a twin and crippled she likes to feel as though she is different than every other person in the family. She even has her own “backward code” language. By using this “coded” language she reveals to the readers that she views herself as almost incompetent to speak the same language as the rest of the family. Even when she speaks about herself as a twin she calls herself a “niwt” instead because she doesn’t have the self-worth to use the same word for herself as she does her sister. During the duration that she is dragging herself in the jungle she notices many different animals and natural features such as: elephants, and streams, and waterfalls. She also notices how the women work as they have their babies. She admires their work ethic and how they all go about their day. When Adah got back from the jungle she decided to relax and take a nap in the hammock. Tata Ndu found blood by the tiger and thought that Adah was killed by the tiger. He was ectatic about his finding because he though God was sending the village a sign to not listen to the Prices teachings. Adah decided to rain on his parade by getting out of the hammock and setting everyone straight. She began to notice how the villagers washed clothes and showered and cleaned and drank. She noticed their system. The Congolese people know more about hygiene than the Prices do at this point. They wash their clothes downstream, bathe in the middle, and drink above. They baptize and carry out communion on their own system. Adah is starting to admire how the villagers use and have their own system. She is beginning to realize that the Congolese people do not need help in anyway because they already know how to manage themselves. Adah is, by far, the most mature and open eyed person in the Price family.