intensity and seriousness by creatively rearranging words, here associating his emotive Nathan’s bodily gestures with the of an unpleasant medical procedure. “purg[ing]” effects other interest is rhyming, and, similarly to her palindromes, her rhymes often play Adah’s upon her language. For example, Adah slyly comments on dismissal of father’s Nathan’s and Ruth illness and discomfort when a case of malaria confines them to bed. Orleanna’s May’s She states, . . Our Father irritably countered that the Lord operates in mysterious ways. . . . “. Serious delirious imperious weary us (Kingsolver, 218). Though Poisonwood deleterious ways” most of the words that Adah rhymes with the crippling impacts of malaria, “mysterious” describe her insertion of suggests that these words also describe the wearying authority that “imperious” Nathan and his religious dogma hold over the Price women. Whereas Nathan remains convinced, despite all available evidence to the contrary, that intentions shape every God’s element of his life, language highlights the exhaustive, dangerous, and illusory nature of Adah’s these convictions. While linguistic oddities inform many of her tendencies to invert her Adah’s father’s ideological standpoints, her general philosophical beliefs also undermine rigidity. For Nathan’s example, she is my come to think of declares, “Misunderstanding cornerstone. It’s everyone’s, it. Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call (Kingsolver, 532). radical definition of as Poisonwood civilization” Adah’s “civilization” something akin to structured illusion evokes a sentiment expressed by political theorist Kenneth Reinhard: . . . Just as in the Bible there be was an God’s inaugural declaration “let light” extraordinary and fully arbitrary intervention of creation into the of ex nihilo “darkness” primal chaos, a cut that divided the world into stable oppositions of and “light”
Nathan’s intensity and seriousness by creatively rearranging words, here associating his emotive bodily gestures with the “purg[ing]” effects of an unpleasant medical procedure. Adah’s other interest is rhyming, and, similarly to her palindromes, her rhymes often play upon her father’s language. For example, Adah slyly comments on Nathan’s dismissal of Orleanna’s and Ruth May’s illness and discomfort when a case of malaria confines them to bed. She states, “. . . Our Father irritably countered that the Lord operates in mysterious ways. . . . Serious delirious imperious weary us deleterious ways” (Kingsolver, Poisonwood 218). Though most of the words that Adah rhymes with “mysterious” describe the crippling impacts of malaria, her insertion of “imperious” suggests that these words also describe the wearying authority that Nathan and his religious dogma hold over the Price women. Whereas Nathan remains convinced, despite all available evidence to the contrary, that God’s intentions shape every element of his life, Adah’s language highlights the exhaustive, dangerous, and illusory nature of these convictions. While Adah’s linguistic oddities inform many of her tendencies to invert her father’s ideological standpoints, her general philosophical beliefs also undermine Nathan’s rigidity. For example, she declares, “Misunderstanding is my cornerstone. It’s everyone’s, come to think of it. Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call civilization” (Kingsolver, Poisonwood 532). Adah’s radical definition of “civilization” as something akin to structured illusion evokes a sentiment expressed by political theorist Kenneth Reinhard: . . . Just as in the Bible God’s inaugural declaration “let there be light” was an extraordinary and fully arbitrary intervention of creation ex nihilo into the “darkness” of primal chaos, a cut that divided the world into stable oppositions of “light” and
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