Each person is on the pursuit of one type of success or another at every point in time. Our varying opinions on personal success equates to our aspirations. By this, I mean that depending upon our specific goals, we reach success when we accomplish or receive one thing or another. Whether this is money, fame, happiness, or contentedness, success is achieved by many different means in respect to our aspirations. The Poisonwood Bible shows the struggles and accomplishments of young ladies reaching various personal successes in a time of gender imposed limitations. Throughout The Poisonwood Bible, we see the ladies aspire for various things in order to achieve something greater than what they have ever experienced. Their experiences follow trends in America despite being located in Africa.
Each of the daughters have followed their family's model of power and female dependence throughout their adolescence. We understand from The Poisonwood Bible that the family has perceived a woman as incompetent to making her own decisions without the approval of her husband. This is represented in the book when Barbara Kingsolver shares Orleanna’s thoughts on her entry into the Congo “I was his instrument, his animal. Nothing more. How we wives and mothers do perish at the hands of our own righteousness. I was just one more of those women who clamp their mouths shut and wave the flag as their nation rolls to conquer another in war. Guilty or innocent, they have everything to lose. They are what here is to lose. A wife is the earth itself, changing hands, bearing scars.” (p. 89) Kingsolver is developing Orleanna’s opinions on her poorly constructed marriage. Orleanna is suggesting that despite the importance of a wife’s role in developing educated and worldly children, her opinion in a ‘normal’ marriage was so undervalued that it was easier to not represent her personal opinions.
The oldest daughter, Rachel, continued to follow similar social norms that her mother experienced throughout her life when she was forced into marriage with somebody she did not have true attraction to. From The Poisonwood Bible, it is obvious that Rachel was forced into her relationship with Axelroot regardless of her opinion. This is represented in the book when Kingsolver writes “Father and Mr. Axelroot hatched up a plan to get me out of marrying Tata Ndu without hurting the whole village’s feelings. They’re setting it up to look like I was already promised in marriage to Eeben Axelroot! I about croaked.” (p. 268) Rachel was obviously not happy with her requirement to marry against her wishes, but her opinion did nothing to impact her father’s decision to marry her away. Her recognition of an unimportant opinion caused her to not openly express how harshly she felt about her marriage, just as Orleanna has done throughout the book.
The social norms regarding a woman’s ability to make choices and represent their opinion began to change in the 1960’s. During this decade, women began to advocate for themselves in America, social norms were being defeated, granting more personal freedoms and abilities to women of all ages. In an article published by US News called The 1960’s: A Decade of Promise and Heartbreak, Kenneth Walsh writes “Gradually, Americans came to accept some of the basic goals of the Sixties feminists: equal pay for equal work, an end to domestic violence, curtailment of severe limits on women in managerial jobs, an end to sexual harassment, and sharing of responsibility for housework and child rearing.” A woman’s abilities to make decisions for their family became more prominent, it was no longer just a time for men to hold superiority. This was represented socially in 1963 when Maria Goepper-Mayer was the first female to win the Nobel prize. Women were finally beginning to be recognized as independent and capable thinkers.
These recognizable changes in social norms were represented in The Poisonwood Bible when the family abandons Nathan in the Congo. From the decisions Orleanna executed leading up to this event, we can conclude that Orleanna found her personal power in her opinions and represented her beliefs in the actions that she took. We see that this happened when Kingsolver writes “Motion became my whole purpose. When there was nothing left to move but myself, I walked to the end of our village and kept going, with a whole raft of children strung out behind me. Nothing to do but take my leave. [...] It happened finally by the grace of hell and brimstone that I had to keep moving. I moved, and he stood still.” (p. 383-384) Orleanna finally makes the decision to move upon her own beliefs, a new social norm created in the late 1960’s for women.
Although Orleanna represented a fine example of new social norms, her daughter Rachel also defeated gender imposed limitations. This is exemplified when she opens her own business. Following three failed marriages, Rachel finds personal independence without being dependent upon the support of a man when she runs a hotel called The Equatorial. From The Poisonwood Bible, we can conclude that despite her location barrier in Africa, Rachel is experiencing social norms maintained in her homeland, America. Kingsolver represents her presence in Africa through her hotel when she writes “At least I’m a person who and look around and see what she’s accomplished in this world. Not to boast, but I have created my own domain. I call the shots.” (p. 511) Rachel has represented the true wishes of herself. After being dependent upon a man for the majority of her existence, Rachel begins to hold true to her beliefs and experiences her independence with the profound appreciation that comes with making her own decisions.
Throughout The Poisonwood Bible and world history, we can conclude that through most of our existence very prominent limitations have been placed upon women. From The Poisonwood Bible, we see these limitations directly imposed in a very personal manner on each of the female characters. We are easily able to see changing social norms in America during the 1960’s reflected on the Price family’s actions in Africa. From the book, we see gender limitations lessen as social norms are adapted to increase the importance of a female’s opinion in America. Each of the female characters defeated a gender imposed limitation in American culture whether or it took place in Africa or America.
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