Diction: the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.

Syntax: the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Detail: details are selected based on what they tell the reader about the person, place or thing

being described.

Sensory Language: using the five senses to describe something or convey an emotion.

QUOTES:

I was glad nobody wanted to cut off my hands. Because Jesus made me white, I reckon

they wouldn't. (2.2.29)

As young as five, Ruth May learned about white privilege. But, oops: the Prices quickly learn

they're not immune. In the Congo, it's not the color of your skin, but where you are, that has

consequences. Ruth May finds herself in the same place as a snake, and the consequence is

death.

Rachel would have to have the circus mission where they cut her so she wouldn't want to

run around with people's husbands. (3.12.4)

If I die I will disappear and I know where I'll come back. I'll be right up there in the tree,

same color, same everything. I will look down on you. But you won't see me. (3.12.8)

This Congolese "superstition" isn't much different than the idea of a Christian heaven. Ruth May

believes she'll end up above (in a tree instead of the sky, but same diff), where she'll be able to

watch everyone without being seen. Sounds almost the same to us.
 "Mother, you can still hold on but forgive, forgive and give for long as long as we both

shall live I forgive you, Mother . . . The teeth at your bones are your own, the hunger is yours,

forgiveness is yours." With that absolution, the spirit tells Orleanna to "Move on. Walk forward

into the light."

Alright, bitches, welcome to another episode of this fucking loser writes an essay. This

time around, its Ruth May and the Voice of the Congo. When Barbara Kingsolver wrote this

novel, her first intention was to write from the perspective of a woman that moved to the Congo,

something that has never been done before. All the previous novels surrounding history have

always been told from a mans perspective, and Kingsolver thought it was necessary to have a

womans point of view about the situation as well. Instead of having one woman, though,

Kingsolver somehow managed to give us a look on life in the Congo through the eyes of five

females, from a mother unhappy in her marriage with a religious nut-job, to the spirit of a five

year old reflecting on life and death. The five year old, Ruth May is perhaps one of the most

crucial characters to ever speak in the novel. She gives the reader an all new look on life that has

probably never been achieved. Her statements are said with such simplicity, and yet leave the

reader in a state of subtle confusion at what really goes on inside the mind of a five year old in

the African jungle.

Ruth May is truly a unique character, and not just from the stance that its rare to find

narrators still in their single digit ages. She gives such a blatant view on a certain topic that its

hard to disagree with her. She hated Eeben Axelroot and theres a sudden distaste for the pilot

born in the viewers eyes. She doesnt hide her emotions; she doesnt have a reason to hide them.

I was glad nobody wanted to cut off my hands. Because Jesus made me white, I reckon they

wouldn't (2.2.29). Even at such a young age Ruth May knows about white privilege. The fact of
the matter is that Ruth May says the Congolese wouldnt hurt her because shes white, that the

jungle wouldnt harm her because of her skin color, and theres a sense of guilt in the readers

mind as they cautious believe her. Shes five years old, whats the worst that could happen? If the

author is to kill off any character it has to be whiny old Rachel, not the youngest of the bunch,

right? Even so, her skin color doesnt make her immune. Its not the fact that her whiteness is

going to play a role in her survival; its where she is at what time. She finds herself in the same

place as the snake, and suddenly her skin color is worthless. Her age doesnt inhibit her ability to

be a smart kid, though. When Nelson gives her the nsiki, the charm that will take her wherever

she wants to go as shes dying, she comes up with a place. It takes a while for the idea to pop into

her head, yes, but Ruth May does find the perfect solution to her problems. If I die I will

disappear and I know where I'll come back. I'll be right up there in the tree, same color, same

everything. I will look down on you. But you won't see me (3.12.8). The last two lines make her

seem like a god of sortswatching over her people from a place they will never be able to spot

her. Maybe the reason Ruth May chose to include this detail is because of her Father, Nathan

Price. He has instilled a fear of God so deep into her mind and heart that when she dies, she

wants to play the role of a god. She wants to match up to Jesus in her poisonwood world and not

be scared any longer.

As young as Ruth May Price is, and as much as her statements bring the reader to a quiet

chuckle, shes still aware of what goes on the Congo. When the chief of Kilanga came to talk to

the Price family about marrying Rachel, he mentioned the concept of genital mutilation so that

she wouldnt have affairs with other men. Ruth May very clearly misheard the word, but that

doesnt means she doesnt comprehend the meaning. Rachel would have to have the circus

mission where they cut her so she wouldn't want to run around with people's husbands (3.12.4).
Circus mission. Its very evident to see that Ruth May meant to say circumcision, but misheard

the statement. If she wasnt smart, though, she wouldnt have included the last bit about running

around with men. Yes, the word is foreign to her and she ponders what elephants and dual

colored tents have to do with marriage, but she does understand that its a rule of sort to get

Rachel to stay faithful a man she doesnt particularly like. Ruth Mays syntax is a key factor in

her aging. She may be young and nave, but she certainly isnt stupid or ill of the mind. Her

growth is actually visibly noticeable from when she first speaks to some of her final lines.

"Mother, you can still hold on but forgive, forgive and give for long as long as we both shall live

I forgive you, Mother . . . The teeth at your bones are your own, the hunger is yours, forgiveness

is yours." With that absolution, the spirit tells Orleanna to "Move on. Walk forward into the

light." Now just where did that nave five-year-old go? Lovely Ruth May Price has matured after

death and its evident in the final chapter of the novel. She speaks in more complex sentences

and says things that todays children cant even fathom.

Its hard to tell whether Kingsolver truly intended for Ruth May to be the way she is

when she first started to write this book, but its clear that this young character is crucial to the

story whether she was planned or not.