In sending missionary Reverend Nathan Price to Congo, America did not send its best and brightest.
From not listening to the natives who are trying to help (Mama Tataba warning Nathan about the poisonwood tree, and replanting the garden), the unconscious arrogance of assuming that what works in America will likewise work overseas (Nathan and Leah planting seeds from the US, instead of planting fruits and vegetables native to the region, and also reversing Mama Tataba's work in said garden), Nathan's disrespect of local customs (the diatribe against nakedness), steamrolling a policy over the objections of the community (his single-minded obsession with river baptism, when the Congolese keep their children away from the river after a crocodile killed a girl), ignoring the warnings from people who have been their longer and are more familiar with Congo (The Underdowns informing Price that Belgium will evacuate Leopoldville and the Prices should also leave)…
In the character of Nathan Price, I see America's experience in Vietnam writ large.
And lest you think that the Reverend will bring his flock to Jesus with love and compassion, think again. Reverend Price's God is from the Old Testament. His is a wrathful, vengeful, harsh god. His sermons burst with hellfire and damnation, sin and punishment. The log in his eye blinds him to how he alienates the Congolese with his every action. The more I read, the more I am convinced that Price's parishioners in Georgia tithed and donated just to get him away from them.
Maybe it's an indictment of colonialism in general. Either way, it's a fascinating read. Unlike some books where authors throw in foreign words now and then to let you know the setting, I feel immersed in 1960s Congo. And knowing what I do about Patrice Lumumba, the CIA, and the Belgian evacuation from the Congo, I shudder to think what is in store for the Prices–and if there is anything that can shake Nathan Price from his arrogant, intolerant, judgmental certainty that he is doing God's will.
by saga_of_a_star_world