The Revelation.

"Every scar shows up good. Mama says their skin bears scars different from ours because their skin is a map of all the sorrows in their lives."
(Kingsolver 123)

In the beginning of Book Two of The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, The Revelation, Ruth May Price puts her experience into perspective. She is the youngest of the four daughters and can be described as innocent, approachable, and sweet. At the beginning of Book Two, Ruth May entails how she broke her arm after falling from a tree because she was spying on some Congolese boys with guns. Her innocence wins hearts. After observing sharply she notices the boys she saw had a lot of sores and scars and she recalls her mother told her the scars represent their hardships. I chose this quote because Ruth May Price is my favorite narrator to read and the quotes shows the importance of being a good role model to the younger generation. I must say I'm impressed by Barbara's way of making Ruth so likable that she can become the reader's favorite.


Analysis: The metaphor comparing the Congolese scarred skin to a map that shows their tribulations emphasizes the native's lack of progressing above the first level in the Hierarchy of Need  Triangle, The Biological and Physiological Needs.  People must first be well in basic needs, before they can actually worry about scars or in today's society, wrinkles.  Ruth's young age efficiently transmit that point to the reader as well as the cognitive dissonance of the values they teach they youngest daughter considering they are suppose to be loving Christians that see all people equal but her Father, Nathan, is the character who bring out the worse in others.