Leah Price

 
   by Swathi Ganesh

         As I was reading The Poisonwood Bible, I thought, "Man, I should really make a blog about this book", so here I am writing this blog post. Okay, well not really, but I did wonder why Barbara Kingsolver did such a cruel thing as kill off the young, cute, and naive Ruth May *spoiler* (I warned you at the beginning). Then I realized that she did this because Ruth May was the character whose death would've least impacted the story.

          
         Now don't get me wrong. Ruth May's death is certainly an important event and probably even the climax of the story; many events precipitated afterward that truly pushed the story forward. According to psychologytoday.com, "Researchers suggest that open communication within the family is an essential determinant of how well family members are able to move through and beyond the profound grief experienced immediately after, and for an extended period after the death of a child." This "open communication" is something that is lacking between the members of the Price family, which suggests why Orleanna finally takes the initiative to leave Nathan to seek safety for herself and her children, but would this somewhat fortunate outcome of the story have changed if it had been Leah who had died instead?

         
         Leah is a young, but wise and accepting girl who is actually the reason that the Price family even survives in Kilanga. Her accepting nature allows her to adopt Kilangan customs and ways of life, which helps her gain the acceptance of the Kilangans. She uses their bow-and-arrow technique, which she eventually masters (like Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games), allowing her to catch food for the whole village. Her emotional bond with Anatole is also useful because he is able to give the Price family the latest news about what is going on, politically, in Congo and is also able to help them escape.  If Leah had died, the Kilangans would have probably rebelled against Nathan because of his imposing nature and possibly would have even tried to kick the Price family out of Congo. 

          
         Although Orleanna can be considered the "leader" in the part of the story where she and her girls are escaping Kilanga, Leah also plays a huge role in their journey to safety. She appeases them of their hunger by using the "Kilangan hunting techniques" she had learned to catch food for the family, but how is Leah able to deal with such difficulties successfully while her whole life is in chaos? According to the American Psychological Association, people who are resilient more easily adapt to life-changing situations and stressful conditions. Without her, I honestly don't believe the Price could have made it through their journey. 

          
         Leah's death (if it had happened) would've had a negative impact on the story, in contrast to the somewhat positive impact of Ruth May's death (yes death is a bad thing, but her death pushed the Price family to safety). Leah's kindness, wisdom, and resilience allowed for her own success as well as that of the whole family (or most of the family, I suppose, since Ruth May died). Although both girls played an important role in the story and had a significant impact its outcome, Leah was definitely the more influential of the two.