1987 AP EXAM ESSAY 2

   In Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, many political and social customs were altered from the other-worldly dynamic of the Congo.  Kingsolver created new perspectives on Christianity and even the President of the United States simply by directing attention to a nation that lost its savior and a family that lost a child.  By utilizing corruption and betrayal as key themes throughout the novel, the attitude of the Price family drastically changed in the fields of politics and religion.
     By religion alone did the Price family's story begin.  Nathan Price, being a hot-headed evangelist set on saving the children of the Congo, forced his family to stay longer than intended in Kilanga against their will.  Although the Price girls saw the Reverend as a powerful and protective being near the beginning of the novel, that all changed immediately after the death of their precious Ruth-May.  As Nathan Price simply spectated the vanishing trust in his family, the rest of the girls ultimately left him due to their feelings of betrayal.  Since the Reverend symbolized the dwindling power of religion, the Price family set out onto a non-affiliated path, because they wanted nothing more to do with religion after their experience.
     Many times in the novel did Orleanna and her daughters make reference to the picture of the President Dwight D. Eisenhower that hung in one of their rooms in Kilanga, but as time passed, the way by which they saw their President changed.  After the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the rightful leader of the Congo, rumors reached the Price family that Eisenhower was behind it all.  Unexpectedly, corruption and betrayal struck again in the hearts of the Price family through the lying eyes of the trusted President himself.  This was just another example by which Kingsolver created an alteration in political and social attitude.
     Just as people today change their views on the President and religion, the same happened and even amplified for the Price family in The Poisonwood Bible.  After leaving the Congo with one less sister and no God to turn to, the Price family served as the perfect example of change in perspective.  How one perceives an aspect of society in the beginning may alter in the blink of an eye.