Post 23: Lit Figure 8s

On Friday, in our Lit Figure 8 groups, we were told to come up with a defining moment, or a character which influences the whole course of the book. My group chose Nathan, and our example was when Nathan released both Methuselah and Mama Tabatha. The following quote is the father showing his frustration upon hearing the reason why nobody would get baptized in the river, since a young girl from the village got eaten by a crocodile prior to the family's arrival:

"'I fail to understand,' he said, "why it would take six months to inform me of that simple fact'" (81). Although it was clear that the father couldn't find many people in Kilanga who willingly took up Christianity (as seen by how he had to have a picnic in the hopes of attracting hungry villagers to get baptized), it became apparent more and more through the chapters how turned off of Christianity, and even more so, him the villagers were. In this post, I'd like to further expand and provide additional examples of not only how losing Mama Tabatha was much more of a big deal than Nathan thought it was, but also how Nathan, without realizing it, is the focal-character to hate in the book.

Currently, from where I am in "Revelations," every character, including devout, Father-loving (pun intended) Leah. Orleanna, Nathan's wife, seems to interact with everybody the least. She secretly despises being in Kilanga, and does things behind the Father's back, such as posting pictures in the kitchen of celebrities (although, evidently, the father would never go through the kitchen to discover this "contraband"). This quote illustrates how she believes that this whole journey to "help" these Kilanga-ians is a mistake, and not only that, but how her even marrying Nathan was a mistake:

"I wondered, Are we lost right now without knowing it? It had already happened so many times in my life ( my wedding day comes to mind) that I thought I was out of the woods, not realizing I'd merely paused on the edge of another narrow precipice in the midst of a long, long fall" (90). Not only does this quote imply that she made so many mistakes already (among which, marrying Nathan), but additionally, that she is perpetually falling lower and lower. Actually, there are multiple other ocassions where Orleanna speaks out against Nathan in this chapter, talking about how she misses coffee more than him, and also how the hardest thing to do everyday was deciding whether to stay with the family or not. Such a big burden was put on her when Mama Tabatha left, since she was assimilated to what precautions to take before eating any food, and how to do things in the Congo. To make a simple metaphor, it is almost like Nathan is preaching to deaf people, for they do not absorb what he is saying, at least in a positive way, and Mama Tabatha is like the family's only translator for how to do things with these deaf people: now that she's gone, their life becomes that much harder.

In the proceeding chapter, Leah talks about how she met a boy named Pascal, who the mother condoned her being around, and how Nathan would not approve of such a boy. It seems ironic to me how Nathan can't see past the skin of someone when from what I can remember from the Bible, it teaches equality. Leah speaks out against the father, because she wishes that she could relate to Pascal, and not be trapped in this different world, a more "sophisticated" world:

"For the first time ever I felt a stirring of anger against my father for making me a white preacher's child from Georgia" (115). Leah feels completely out of place in Kilanga, yet she wishes she could be one of them. It will be interesting to see how this little blemish in Leah's initially picture perfect view of her father could turn out in.

Although Ruth May is too influenced by her father, and therefore cannot take such a bold stand herself against him in her section, she notes how the father aggravates the doctor she had to see since she broke her arm. There was an irking quote in Ruth May's section where the doctor told Nathan exactly why Nathan was there. Up to this point, it seemed that Nathan going to Kilanga was something he felt was a good thing to do; to spread Christianity. However, the doctor tells us otherwise:

"'And you, my friend, are stuck with the job of trying to make amens" (121). I'm not sure if my assumption is correct, but if it is, "amens" is a pun for amends, whose reference is in making amends with the Africans since it is 1960, when the civil rights movements are taking place. As a tie-in to something earlier, it's interesting that Nathan is ignorant to racial equality.

What I personally think about Nathan right now is that he is trying to spread Christianity to benefit himself: to make himself feel better and as though he is helping people. In other words, I don't think he is spreading Christianity to the Kilanga people to benefit their lives, but only to benefit his. It'll be very interesting to see how all of this animosity toward Nathan plays out with everybody in Kilanga, and with Nathan's own family starting to hate him.