Orleanna Price becomes the wife of Nathan, an unsanctioned Baptist Missionary, .
who in 1959 drags his family from Bethlehem, Georgia, to the Congo. The determined .
Orleanna mainly tries to keep her family alive as disease, starvation, the threat of .
revolution, and even her husband's presence threaten their existence. .
.
"I had washed up there on the riptide of my husband's confidence and the .
undertow of my children's needs. That's my excuse- (Kingsolver 8). Orleanna begins .
the story of the Price family claiming, "I rode in with the horseman and beheld the .
apocalypse, but still I"ll insist I was only a captive witness. What is the conqueror's wife, .
if not a conquest herself?" (Kingsolver 9) This quote appears in Orleanna's opening .
narrative and immediately introduces us to the dominant them in The Poisonwood Bible: .
the attempt to grapple with guilt. Orleanna's guilt is twofold. A paralyzing guilt causes .
her to feel responsible in the death of her youngest daughter, and also the guilt she suffers .
because of the crimes perpetrated by the Unites States against the natives of the Congo. .
This passage calls our attention to both of these guilty burdens. By calling herself the .
"conqueror's wife," Orleanna places herself in a particular position with respect to the .
guilt she is feeling. Although having not perpetrated the act, she is closely connected to .
that perpetrator and perhaps even might have benefited from his crimes.
Orleanna struggles to revive the ability to act out on her own, to oppose .
.
her husband's will. She even suffers through neglectful abuse, her husband's control and .
daily duties. It is not until the death of her youngest daughter that Orleanna decides to .
desert her husband and two of her daughters. She states "Anyone can see I should have, .
long before- (Kingsolver 9). Orleanna tries to explain her guilt by adding "To resist .
occupation whether you"re a nation or merely a woman, you must understand the .
There is something healthy about the capacity to feel guilt. ... There are many people who feel excessive and inappropriate guilt, i.e., guilt for things that are not bad or improper. ... This is often the reaction of men to fear and guilt. ... Even still this guilt is not easily seen. ... This is the kind of guilt that surrounds any war. ...
The Power of Guilt Repressed guilt and emotions will inevitably destroy a man. ... However, Hester's guilt and Dimmesdale's guilt were expressed or shown in two very separate ways. Hester's guilt was open for all of the townspeople to see, while Dimmesdale's guilt was hidden from the public eye. ... Dimmesdale's sin and guilt however, remained a secret. ... Dimmesdale, however, was still bottling up his guilt. ...
Guilt is not always controlled by us, one can create guilt. ... Guilt can also be a feeling. ... Raskolnikov suffers from guilt, and he is unable to escape guilt. He created guilt because of a sin. ... This guilt of Raskolnikov connects to the guilt of Gregor Samsa in The Metamorphosis. ...
There are many different ways to handle guilt. ... Dunstan Ramsay allowed his guilt to take over his life. ... His guilt overcame him and he committed suicide. ... I cannot feel guilt now@ (Davies 266-267). Paul felt as though he never experienced guilt. ...
Most of this guilt started just after act two scene two when Macbeth kills King Duncan. ... These blood steins may represent her never ending guilt of killing the innocent. ... Guilt can be responded to in many different ways; some times people react to guilt by simply ignoring it and carrying on with our lives, just as Lady Macbeth tried to do at first. ... Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both dealt with their guilt in different ways. ... The play Macbeth did a wonderful job at portraying how guilt affected the characters and their actions. ...
Dominance of Guilt Erik Erickson's theory of psychosocial development (Santrock and Yussen, 1987) offers a perspective on a child's social development. ... The first chapters of the novel represent Erikson's third stage of psychosocial development, Initiative vs. guilt. ... As a result Pip's sense of morality and values is skewed, and a feeling of guilt for his own existence and his actions is an overlying theme in later chapters. ...
Scarlet Letter Essay Guilt in The Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter guilt and its effects are a constant theme. The story is based on the results of guilt as an effect of sin. ... Pearl is also always doing something to further her mother's guilt. ... Dimmesdale in contrast hides his sins, and the guilt eats away at him. ... The theme of guilt in The Scarlet Letter is a rather prominent one. ...
10.09.01 Scarlet Letter Essay Guilt in The Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter guilt and its effects are a constant theme. The story is based on the results of guilt as an effect of sin. ... Pearl is also always doing something to further her mother's guilt. ... Dimmesdale in contrast hides his sins, and the guilt eats away at him. ... The theme of guilt in The Scarlet Letter is a rather prominent one. ...
Guilt a feeling of remorse for an action, is a daemon that haunts Victor Frankenstein more diligantly, than the monster he created. This guilt sends frankenstein into an illness, and ultimatly destroys his life. Why is Frankenstein persued so persistantly by this guilt, and what great crim did he commit that would justify his relentless feelings of remorse? ...
