Ruth May Character Analysis

Beyond just culture shock and homesickness, the Price family finds themselves thrown into an alien world as they attempt to “enlighten” the natives of the Congo. Orleanna Price and her four daughters narrate the story as they live out their day-to-day lives in the small Congolese village of Kilanga as a Christian missionary family during the year of 1959. What the girls believed would be a quick sojourn suddenly turns into a nightmare when their father coerces them to stay and spread the word of God despite the chaotic political climate following Congolese independence. The situation worsens when their mother and youngest sister, Ruth May, both appear to fall ill while their father is busy preaching. In this journal, I will be predicting Ruth
Ruth May’s illness begins when the Congo becomes a country and the girls’ father, Nathan Price, refuses to leave despite the threats to white people. Ruth begins to lie in bed with her mother all day, refuses to come out of the house and starts sweating an ocean ☺ (figurative language). After weeks of her being in this state, her own sisters start thinking about the worst-case scenario: “I used to threaten Ruth May’s life so carelessly… Now I had to face the possibility that we really could lose her” (Kingsolver 236). This thought by her older sister Leah shows that not only is Ruth May getting worse, her own sisters are genuinely worried about her death. The quote itself could be
I question why she is averse to her family and religion. One reason might be because she resents being seen differently for having a disability in contrast to her twin sister Leah: “It was hard for me to carry the heavy pail…so Leah took all the water and went ahead. As always” (Kingsolver 136). This quote shows that Adah often feels left behind by her twin, who does not have to deal with the burden of a disability. She feels that Leah is more in the spotlight and more respected as her twin does everything more efficiently. This is partially why Adah might also be less religious. She seems to identify more with the villagers of Kilanga, who all have one deformity or another. While Adah’s family pity her and her father looks down on her, the villagers do not seem to take much notice of her disability. Adah especially shows her disdain, when her father attempts to justify her being half-paralyzed as “God’s plan”. This is why Adah could be more opposed to her family and even the