Cultural Superiority in The Poisonwood Bible .
The Poisonwood Bible is a story of the political turmoil taking place in Congo in the 1960's and into the future. Although this idea might be less obvious to some, the idea of Western cultural superiority seems to be the underlying theme of the novel. Many parallels can be drawn from The Poisonwood Bible and to real life occurrences of the past. Definite similarities can be noticed between the conflict in the Congo, and between the conflict of apartheid in South Africa. Perhaps one of the most blatant similarities in content is between The Poisonwood Bible and Cry, The Beloved Country. Both stories tell the tale of a particular culture's arrogance in relation to the culture of another country. I hope to present the details of these similarities in the essay, while providing an explanation for cultural arrogance, along with examples of the development of this theme through the character's actions in the novel.
Throughout history, Western culture has been an eminent force in the colonization and occupation of many Eastern and third world countries. Perhaps one of the most often targeted areas by the Western World is Africa. One of the most obvious examples that would come to mind would be apartheid in South Africa. South Africa was colonized by the English and Dutch in the seventeenth century. Also, the discovery of diamonds in the country sparked an English invasion in the early twentieth century, which eventually led to the system of apartheid that we all know about today. The aim of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation, and to hold control over the economic and social system of South Africa. Cry, The Beloved Country, was a novel by Alan Paton that portrayed the real life hardships of the South African natives while trying to overcome Western dominance. The basis in which The Poisonwood Bible takes place is very similar.