be my weekend lover, but don't be my friend

Post 23 :: Poisonwood Analyzed


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"Father pointed his finger like a gun at Tata Ndu, then swung it around to accuse the whole congregation. 'You haven't even learned to run your own pitiful country! Your children are dying of a hundred different diseases! You don't have a pot to piss in! And you're presuming you can take or leave the benevolence of our Lord Jesus Christ!'" (332)

As Leah watches, Nathan Price clearly begins to show his desperation by lashing out at those around him. The villagers decided to take a vote on whether or not to follow Jesus, and Nathan, being the "good" preacher he is, tries to turn them back. He is, however, trying to turn them back in entirely the wrong way. Thus, "Jesus Christ lost, eleven to fifty-six" (334).

I think this quote is important for two main reasons (among others). One, it shows us what Nathan really thinks of the Congo, past all of his fatherly patience and want to bring its inhabitants to "salvation" at the hands of his "God." Two, it is almost ironic, the way his words seem to reflect their own situation and not that of the Congolese.

Elaborating on the first thought, this reason is more of a literal understanding of the quote, looking at it at face value. Obviously, dear Father Price is more than a little cracked at this point in time. He even uses the word "piss," which when he heard before, was the source of a long reprimand for his children. He said it corrupted a pure soul. How many souls is he corrupting, spouting foul words in front of an entire congregation?

Moving on quickly to the second thought, it seems like most of the venom comes from Nathan's own insecurities. They can't run their country, yes. Of course! They're in the middle of a struggle for independence. Everything is in chaos. And that is the reason the Price family is without missionary support, stranded in the middle of the Congo with nothing coming in to save them. Perhaps it reflects his bitterness at being abandoned by the mission. He calls their children sickly, their country chock full of disease. How ironic, seeing as Ruth May had so recently suffered at the claws of malaria. Whose children are dying of a hundred different diseases? And the last comment he made, about not having a pot to piss in -- I think it's a rather inane thing to say, seeing as they don't care. They never had pots to take a pee in; that was all the white man's idea. The pot and the piss could also be a metaphor for Nathan. He doesn't have a place in the Congo. There is no place for his Jesus or his preaching. There's no one to receive his blessing and no one to sing the songs of praise. He has no pot to piss in.

I think one thing that goes unspoken beneath the last line of this quote is that it's not really Jesus' benevolence they're declining. It's Nathan's. Nathan and his way of pushing things like Jesus and baptism and the ways of the white man upon them, spouting this and that about bangala and salvation; however, Nathan doesn't even think about the fact that it could be the way he's going about spreading his teachings. He doesn't realize -- or if he does, he's just being too stubborn about his white American ways.