essay assignment #1

Being alone can truly be a frightening thing. Devoid of human contact, left desolate with only your thoughts and brain as company. It is such a powerful phenomenon to be exiled from others or even to be separated from one's place of comfort that we even use it as a punishment for inmates in correctional facilities, known as solitary confinement. While it can drive a man insane, being alone can also be used to further and better oneself. This is evident in The Poisonwood Bible, which is a story in which a family goes to the Democratic Republic on a missionary trip.
Going to a completely different country is a rift in itself. The fact that the family is the only English-speaking Christian westerners in the village they are staying compounds this alienating rift. The fact that the family, specifically Reverend Price, is trying to impose western customs and religion on the natives only further alienates them. Their customs and refusal to change and adapt, cause distrust between the community and them, to the point in which even their live-in helper, Mama Tataba, leaves them. The family is estranged in a land very different from their own. Other families also try to warn the Prices to leave before it’s too late and the natives start purging westerners. The women of the family become disillusioned with the purpose of their mission and they soon begin to lose hope in what they’re doing to the point that Orleanna, the wife of Reverend Price and one of the main narrators, crawls into bed and neglects her duties around the house.
  When Orleanna awoke from her slumber, she returned a changed woman. When before she wouldn't dare question her husband’s decisions, no matter how foolhardy they were, she know openly defies him and questions his rash choices. She quickly tries to make an escape plan for her and her daughters out of the Congo, where she feels they will find their untimely death. Being alone has given Orleanna the ability to think the situation she and her family are in thorough and form her own rational decision.  During this time her conviction fermented inside her and she grew a backbone to set her husband straight to prevent the family from barreling down the path of destruction any further.
The experience of being placed in a completely alien world contributes to the overall meaning of the book; one of dealing guilt and how to deal with it. Being alone allowed Orleanna to think and try to save her family, but it was too little too late. Her youngest daughter was bitten by a snake and died, leaving Orleanna with the guilt of not having acted earlier.
We all need our own time and space to reflect and to think. This time is crucial before we do any rash decisions based on others cramming their opinions down your throat. While being alone might be frightening and harmful, it can also serve as a time to reflect and think for yourself.