ESSAY #1

.Marcel Dube

.8/12/14

.Per 6

“Young alienation, disappointment and heartache are all a part of the first real growing up that we do.” This quote by Judd Nelson accurately portrays that the exile that can happen from ones family, friends, and homeland actually has the possibility or necessity to enrich a person’s life even through alienation. The Novel the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver has a very interesting character due to how she is a great example of how alienation can be both terrible and cause enrichment.  Adah was born with a defect called hemiplegia which crippled her whole left side this however didn't affect her twin sister Leah and this was exile and alienation on its own from the world. This Condition was one of the main reasons her opinion wasn’t noted on the move to the Congo but the journey to the Congo gave a surplus amount of both scenes of alienation as well as enrichment from said alienation and exile.

The amount of Alienation Adah had from her family was insanely high even before the move to the Congo mainly for the birth defect she had as previously mentioned and this in turn caused her to be a timid person who always watched from affair as well as always having her nose in a book. The constant alienation caused her to be very cynical and rarely considering the existence of god for how could god bestow a condition such as this onto her and the books furthered her steps away from god into science. This alienation grew worse in the Congo especially when her life is brought into question with the swarm of ants that overtook the village leaving her mother choosing the life of her younger sister Ruth leaving her behind to possibly die. This event was a pivotal moment in her life because at this time she finally understands that she needs change in her life and that she wants to live even with this condition leading towards enrichment.

The enrichment from these events of alienation made Adah a stronger individual and more intelligent through her constant book reading because how timid she was from the alienation from her parents which made her push for a career in science and go to college after leaving the Congo with her mother. Adah went against her father’s wishes and went to medical school where she discovered that she doesn't have a limp and her hemiplegia has just been a misunderstanding between her body and her brain and ended in the removal of her handicap which could be why she furthered her pursuit of a career in medicine.

Cultural critic Edward Said proves to be accurately spoken in that alienation or exile can give enrichment to an individual so that they become motivated to prove them wrong to alienate or exile them. The main example is Adah who becomes a brilliant researcher, studying the life of viruses in which she loves, and dismisses the idea of human cosmic importance as a pleasant myth though she still remembers her long gone handicap that gave her to strength to push for a better life for herself.