NATHAN PRICE #6

In The Poisonwood Bible, Kingsolver writes from the perspective of five out of the six main characters. She excludes Nathan Price from this primarily because the novel is not about him, it is about how the women in the novel react to him and how he has changed their lives. For example, if the book were a sentence, Nathan would be the object and the women would be the subject. If Nathan were given a chance to speak his mind, it would humanize him and thus destroy his role as the object of the story. We learn just enough about Nathan's character to form an opinion about him and his beliefs and to understand the actions of other characters in response to him. I believe that it is important to have this information rather than having a completely dehumanized character because it gives the book a sense of roundedness or reality. We understand that Nathan is misogynistic, racist, and hypocritical which makes Orleanna's leaving him and his daughters leaving Christianity more comprehendible.