Summer Reading notes

The Poisonwood Bible

Characters

• The Prices
• Nathan Price
• Orleana Price
• Rachel Price
• Leah Price
• Adah Price
• Ruth Price
• Eeben
• Anatole

The Plot
Starting out, the Prices are an American family that, at the decision of Nthan Price, the father, move to the congo to do missionary work in a small village. They assume that western culture is pretty superior to African. But when Nathan tries to do westernized things like baptizing in the river or growing a garden, they find that they are in a much differernt place and culture. However the family soon gets acclimated, especially Leah. The family seems to adjust their attitudes, except Nathan. He seems to get progressively more and more isolated as the story goes on. Then some of the villagers make it clear to Nathan his Christian teachings are against their religion and ask him to stop. This fuels Nathans dilusion that these people need to get saved. Then the Prices find out from the Underdowns, ( a Belgian Family living in Congo, possible symbol of imperialism?) that Belgium is granting Congo its independence. The underdowns fear that they will be persecuted once the freedom is granted. This scares the girls and Orleana, who would really like to leave. But Nathan, in true dictatorship fashion, doesn allow it. Anyways, they all stay.
soon after Leah, the one who got really into the culture, wants to go on a hunt with the men. The villagers decide that she can, but a couple guys state that they have disrupted a natural order and make implications that it will have negative consequences. But the decide to break the natural order anyway and Leah goes hunting. Then Ruth gets bitten by a snake and dies. This prompts all the rest of the women to leave except Leah.

Themes
I interpreted this story as a comment on the oppressive nature of imperialism and religion. Probably helping end to mark the end of post modernism was an increase in a more secular look at the world. So this book, I believe, is using Nathan as a metaphor for not only Religon, but of all oppressive institutions. What I think is being said is that maybe we should try and understand cultures, as Rebelution said, "Lets learn about the culture opposite,'' so that's how I saw it.




Pride and Prejudice Notes

Characters
The Bennets
Elizabeth
Jane

Darcy
Bingley
Wickham

Plot

Charles Bingley buys property near the Bennets property in 1800s England. The Bennet matriarch believes that this is a prime opportunity to get one of her daughters married off. Jane and Elizabeth go to a thing that Vingley and his good friend Darcy are at. Jane and Bingley seem to get along fine while Darcy and Elizabeth aren't as well suited to be together from the start. After this Elizabeth meets a dude named Wickham, who is in the army. Wickham says that Darcy cheated him out on an inheritance. Elizabeth assumes this is true. Then soon after that Darcy told Bingley (?)  not to marry Jane because the family is middle class. Elizabeth finds out and is pretty mad. But shortly after they all work it out and Jane marries Bingley and Elizabeth marries Darcy.

Themes
 Im not really sure what the themes are but, I assume strongly that it has to do with the title, Pride and PRejudice and how those to words relate to each other in the context of the story. But Im really not sure what this relationship is.




Essays of Michel de Montaigne

This is a short collection of essays ranging in topics from Glory to Drunkeness to cannibals. Many still consider them relevant because of their material but I particularly found them hard to read. I don't know what it was about them but I felt like I read it, but I had no idea what it was saying.