Essay #1

   The Poisonwood bible is basically the most extreme case of exile. This poor family gets dragged along to Africa with their obsessive father. Their father is a selfish, wannabe priest who only cares about converting the native people to Christianity. He was warned multiple times by Americans and the natives that coming to the Congo at the time of rebellion was wrong and dangerous. Ultimately it led to a terrifying novel about a white family stuck in the middle of Africa.
   The priest had four daughters. Their ages ranging from 5 to 15. Instead of going to school, they learned how to hunt. They saw more death in their lives than I probably ever will. They didn't have the luxury of a "normal" life. Their father was insane and their mother too submissive. They only had Congonese children to try and teach and help them to learn how to play. They were completely isolated from normal traditions back home. Rachel numerously mentions wanting to go home to the US and go to burger joints and shop with her best friends, not take malaria pills. Instead they learned the hard life of starvation and disease.
   It can be viewed as a lesson in appreciation. They got to live somewhere where people needed to fight for their survival and it was the only way they knew how. Here in America we have the necessities and then some. We fight to be rich and they fight to live to the next day. They all learned humility but of course not without sacrifices. They learned how corrupt government can be. How the US treated Africans like they were scum. They adapted to the African way of life and eventually that became the only way they knew. Even Rachel, who wanted to leave so badly, ended up staying in Africa.
   Edward Said said that "exile can be enriching" and I believe this family made that evident. At first it was bloody awful for them. By the end of the book, I believe they all learned something or gained something special from their time in Africa. Leah got married to her one true love, Mother gained the strength to leave Father and even Adah learned to stay true to herself. You may think you know what "home" is but until you've experienced something other than your normal routine, you have no idea what your true passion may be.
   So in conclusion, exile is not fun. It is beneficial, time consuming and difficult but in the end, you learn who you are, what you love, even how to love. Once you experience it, you will never go back to your daily routine like Rachel. She wanted so badly to go back to the Untied States but her heart was in the Congo. She felt she was stuck here and that they needed her. So like Edward said the experience may be "potent even beneficial."