Leah is a character who is the twin sister of Adah and the younger sister of Rachel. She seems to be closer to Rachel than her other sisters. Leah is a girl of action who enjoys an adventure. "Leah runs everywhere and climbs trees," (Kingsolver, 21) she seems very athletic and happy as well as rebellious because I don't think her mom would want her child to run around all the time. She is also in a way excited to go to Africa because she thinks it will be this great tropical area being wild and pretty. "My heart pounded, for I expected everything: jungle flowers, wild roaring beast. God's Kingdom in its pure, unenlightened glory." (Kingsolver, 17). She has a kind of innocent view that I think everyone had as a child, when I was younger, I know that I thought that Africa was exactly like in the Lion King, the lions ruled everything and protected all the animals. That's what this is, a place where Leah's imagination took over and created what she wanted Africa to be like. Leah is also very different from her sister, Adah, who is brain damaged and paralyzed. Leah is basically a normal kid, she is self-conscious about herself and who she is. "She caused me to feel embarrassed over our simple expressions and drawn-out vowels, though naturally I'm aware we do sound worlds different from the Yanks," (Kingsolver, 18) Leah understands some things and isn't completely in her own world, she is someone who could be seen in our world today because of her feelings of embarrassment. She though like many other westerners see Africa as the "white man's burden," something that she and her family are responsible to teach religion and "bringing the Word of God" to the natives. So far I like Leah and she seems to be the most like my friends and other kids my age.
Okay. It won't let me post as anything other than "minga" because it's being stupid and I can't log out and my thing is going to be awful next to Ally's but whatever; I'll just shut up and write now. Run on. Leah, at the beginning of the book, seems like a really perceptive, smart young girl who is always aware of her surroundings. She's like a sponge in her first section, soaking in all the activity in the airport, from the trees outside to the children to the guards with their guns. She seems to be the only one other than her father who's excited about living in the Congo: "My heart pounded, for I expected everything: jungle flowers, wild roaring beasts. God's Kingdom in it's pure, unenlightened glory." (17) In Leah's next section, she seems just as daring as in the first. She says that while her sisters stay inside, afraid of the world outside their walls, she spends time in the garden with her father. It also becomes clear in this section that Leah loves and admires her father more than anything in the world: "Not everyone can see it, but my father's heart is as large as his hands. And his wisdom is great. ....he's seen about everything." At this point in the story, no one else has provided much description of the minister, so Leah provides us with a sort of one-sided view of him. It is unclear who and what he represents to the other women, so we see him, for the moment, as Leah sees him. This is kind of important, because this is our first impression of a major character in the story, and it's completely subjective. In the other daughters' writings, they describe Leah as smart and brave and tomboyish, which is pretty much echoed in Leah's own actions. She also expresses some feelings of awkwardness about growing up and becoming a woman, so it should be interesting to see how she matures later on. I think so far I like her. She could be a little more loving towards the other women in her family, especially her twin Adah, but she's a tough kid and a strong spirit, so I have a fair amount of respect for her.
You both picked well. (It's hard not to like Leah.) These are good journals. Keep charting how she develops & try to include page numbers with passages.
Leah is still very similar to who she was at the beginning of the book. She is very connected to her father and his garden. For Leah, her father’s opinion is the only thing that matters. She is unconnected to all of her sister’s feelings and hobbies. She likes to play outside while all of her sisters enjoy the comfort of the inside of their house. She’s still very casual about clothing, wearing pants all the time. She is very into the garden and believes her dad all the time. “I preferred to help my father on his garden,”(page 35) Leah is clearly into her father’s activities and listens to his opinions advice. Because she listens to her father’s advice constantly Leah believes in her father completely right but doesn’t follow all the rules she could because she has a mind of her own. She needs to think more for herself instead of always following her father’s beliefs. She still follows the ideas of "white man's burden." (Pages 34-82).
Through the book of The Revelation, Leah turns to the people of the Kilanga culture to become her friends and comrades. Leah adapted to the Congolese culture and her curiosity caused her to strive for knowledge. She stays true to her Christian beliefs and doesn’t completely change her ways. Leah to be seen as the better person of her and her sister Adah. She still is a tomboy and constantly wears pants but now she doesn’t listen to her father as much as she did in the beginning. “Pascal was my nkundi: my first real friend the Congo,” (page 112). Leah is still a caring person who makes friends and adapts to her environment in every scenario. When she first came to the Congo she was an outsider to the majority of the people there. She constantly tries to make friends and she finds one in Pascal. Pascal is a young Congolese orphan given to the Prices by Mr. Anatole for household purposes. He teaches Leah many skills like archery and house building that turn her into an even more of a tomboy. (Pages 101-186).
Through the book the judges Leah becomes an extreme kid and is reviewed as weird, even more than Adah. She spends most of her time with Anatole learning the different languages of the Congolese people. As well as learning the languages, Leah taught some of the younger students in the school but they didn’t respect her because of her color. She often gets into fights with Rachel especially on Rachel’s birthday. As The Judges continues Leah begins to fall for the Kilanga tribe and Anatole. “I repeated his name because it took the place of a prayer. Anatole’s name anchored me to the earth, the water, the skin that held me in like a jar of water. I was a ghost in a jar.” (Page 311) Leah professes her love to Anatole and he turns away the idea in a second. I didn’t think that Leah would say something like professing her love just like that. Actually I can believe she would do something outrageous and blunt. Leah adapts to situations like at the end of the book when the ants eat peoples skin, she rests her trust in her friends to protect her family. (Pages 191-311).
Leah is still a tomboy but she is working on breaking the separation between genders. She is trying to catch an animal to show the men of the clan that there is no difference between men and women. Leah also finally sticks up for herself against her father when she tells him about the hunt. As the years grow on Leah continues to be more of a rebel and defying of her father. “His large reddish ears repelled me. My father was a simple, ugly man,” (page 368). Leah changes her opinion on her father very easily; in previous sections of the book Leah regarded her father as the true word of god. She respects him completely. But in this book, Leah’s opinion of her father turns toward hatred. How did her 15 years of love with her father turn from good to bad in only a few years? She then goes and stays in a nunnery even though she is fine. She still loves Anatole though. Page 317-424.
Leah started out at the beginning of the book as a young teenager who was headstrong, a tomboy and a father adoring girl. At the end of the book Leah turns out to be a woman and wife to a man she loves completely. She is also a mother who has to assume a role of responsibility. She still manages to agree that she hopes her father should have forgiven her. It’s hard to believe that Leah has followed her career of teaching. Except now it’s not just geography but nutrition, sanitation and soybeans. It’s amazing how the one person who I thought would grow up to be a calm mother a lot like many women of today. Leah has transformed from an irresponsible and awkward girl to a responsible and motherly wife and mother. I think the main cause of her transformation is Anatole, because when he came into her life she started to see different opinions.
You have some really intersting points here. Leah starts off seeming most likely to follow her father's word, and then becomes a rebel for most of the book--against her father and against the gender roles of the Congolese. What interests me most is how she ends--you also note this Ally. She ends up a wife and mother and teacher, all of which are pretty stereotypically feminine roles. What are we supposed to think of that? She conforms to societal expectations? Her early rebellion is misguided? She realizes traditional roles are good? I like Leah, but she ends a bit strangely. Also, should she bring her family to America? She keeps asking herself that. Should she?
14 comments:
Sarah Robins is doing Leah.
Ally Leipzig is also doing Leah, but doesn't have an account, and is crying to me to comment for her.
Rebecca is Doing leah!
One, Two, Three, Four,
I predict a thumb war!
Sarah and Ally were SO FIRST.
Leah is a character who is the twin sister of Adah and the younger sister of Rachel. She seems to be closer to Rachel than her other sisters. Leah is a girl of action who enjoys an adventure. "Leah runs everywhere and climbs trees," (Kingsolver, 21) she seems very athletic and happy as well as rebellious because I don't think her mom would want her child to run around all the time. She is also in a way excited to go to Africa because she thinks it will be this great tropical area being wild and pretty. "My heart pounded, for I expected everything: jungle flowers, wild roaring beast. God's Kingdom in its pure, unenlightened glory." (Kingsolver, 17). She has a kind of innocent view that I think everyone had as a child, when I was younger, I know that I thought that Africa was exactly like in the Lion King, the lions ruled everything and protected all the animals. That's what this is, a place where Leah's imagination took over and created what she wanted Africa to be like. Leah is also very different from her sister, Adah, who is brain damaged and paralyzed. Leah is basically a normal kid, she is self-conscious about herself and who she is. "She caused me to feel embarrassed over our simple expressions and drawn-out vowels, though naturally I'm aware we do sound worlds different from the Yanks," (Kingsolver, 18) Leah understands some things and isn't completely in her own world, she is someone who could be seen in our world today because of her feelings of embarrassment. She though like many other westerners see Africa as the "white man's burden," something that she and her family are responsible to teach religion and "bringing the Word of God" to the natives. So far I like Leah and she seems to be the most like my friends and other kids my age.
---Ally Leipzig---
Okay. It won't let me post as anything other than "minga" because it's being stupid and I can't log out and my thing is going to be awful next to Ally's but whatever; I'll just shut up and write now. Run on.
Leah, at the beginning of the book, seems like a really perceptive, smart young girl who is always aware of her surroundings. She's like a sponge in her first section, soaking in all the activity in the airport, from the trees outside to the children to the guards with their guns. She seems to be the only one other than her father who's excited about living in the Congo: "My heart pounded, for I expected everything: jungle flowers, wild roaring beasts. God's Kingdom in it's pure, unenlightened glory." (17)
In Leah's next section, she seems just as daring as in the first. She says that while her sisters stay inside, afraid of the world outside their walls, she spends time in the garden with her father. It also becomes clear in this section that Leah loves and admires her father more than anything in the world: "Not everyone can see it, but my father's heart is as large as his hands. And his wisdom is great. ....he's seen about everything." At this point in the story, no one else has provided much description of the minister, so Leah provides us with a sort of one-sided view of him. It is unclear who and what he represents to the other women, so we see him, for the moment, as Leah sees him. This is kind of important, because this is our first impression of a major character in the story, and it's completely subjective.
In the other daughters' writings, they describe Leah as smart and brave and tomboyish, which is pretty much echoed in Leah's own actions. She also expresses some feelings of awkwardness about growing up and becoming a woman, so it should be interesting to see how she matures later on.
I think so far I like her. She could be a little more loving towards the other women in her family, especially her twin Adah, but she's a tough kid and a strong spirit, so I have a fair amount of respect for her.
-Sarah Robins
You both picked well. (It's hard not to like Leah.) These are good journals. Keep charting how she develops & try to include page numbers with passages.
Leah is still very similar to who she was at the beginning of the book. She is very connected to her father and his garden. For Leah, her father’s opinion is the only thing that matters. She is unconnected to all of her sister’s feelings and hobbies. She likes to play outside while all of her sisters enjoy the comfort of the inside of their house. She’s still very casual about clothing, wearing pants all the time. She is very into the garden and believes her dad all the time. “I preferred to help my father on his garden,”(page 35) Leah is clearly into her father’s activities and listens to his opinions advice. Because she listens to her father’s advice constantly Leah believes in her father completely right but doesn’t follow all the rules she could because she has a mind of her own. She needs to think more for herself instead of always following her father’s beliefs. She still follows the ideas of "white man's burden." (Pages 34-82).
Through the book of The Revelation, Leah turns to the people of the Kilanga culture to become her friends and comrades. Leah adapted to the Congolese culture and her curiosity caused her to strive for knowledge. She stays true to her Christian beliefs and doesn’t completely change her ways. Leah to be seen as the better person of her and her sister Adah. She still is a tomboy and constantly wears pants but now she doesn’t listen to her father as much as she did in the beginning. “Pascal was my nkundi: my first real friend the Congo,” (page 112). Leah is still a caring person who makes friends and adapts to her environment in every scenario. When she first came to the Congo she was an outsider to the majority of the people there. She constantly tries to make friends and she finds one in Pascal. Pascal is a young Congolese orphan given to the Prices by Mr. Anatole for household purposes. He teaches Leah many skills like archery and house building that turn her into an even more of a tomboy. (Pages 101-186).
Through the book the judges Leah becomes an extreme kid and is reviewed as weird, even more than Adah. She spends most of her time with Anatole learning the different languages of the Congolese people. As well as learning the languages, Leah taught some of the younger students in the school but they didn’t respect her because of her color. She often gets into fights with Rachel especially on Rachel’s birthday. As The Judges continues Leah begins to fall for the Kilanga tribe and Anatole. “I repeated his name because it took the place of a prayer. Anatole’s name anchored me to the earth, the water, the skin that held me in like a jar of water. I was a ghost in a jar.” (Page 311) Leah professes her love to Anatole and he turns away the idea in a second. I didn’t think that Leah would say something like professing her love just like that. Actually I can believe she would do something outrageous and blunt. Leah adapts to situations like at the end of the book when the ants eat peoples skin, she rests her trust in her friends to protect her family. (Pages 191-311).
Leah is still a tomboy but she is working on breaking the separation between genders. She is trying to catch an animal to show the men of the clan that there is no difference between men and women. Leah also finally sticks up for herself against her father when she tells him about the hunt. As the years grow on Leah continues to be more of a rebel and defying of her father. “His large reddish ears repelled me. My father was a simple, ugly man,” (page 368). Leah changes her opinion on her father very easily; in previous sections of the book Leah regarded her father as the true word of god. She respects him completely. But in this book, Leah’s opinion of her father turns toward hatred. How did her 15 years of love with her father turn from good to bad in only a few years? She then goes and stays in a nunnery even though she is fine. She still loves Anatole though. Page 317-424.
Leah started out at the beginning of the book as a young teenager who was headstrong, a tomboy and a father adoring girl. At the end of the book Leah turns out to be a woman and wife to a man she loves completely. She is also a mother who has to assume a role of responsibility. She still manages to agree that she hopes her father should have forgiven her. It’s hard to believe that Leah has followed her career of teaching. Except now it’s not just geography but nutrition, sanitation and soybeans. It’s amazing how the one person who I thought would grow up to be a calm mother a lot like many women of today. Leah has transformed from an irresponsible and awkward girl to a responsible and motherly wife and mother. I think the main cause of her transformation is Anatole, because when he came into her life she started to see different opinions.
Ally,
You have some really intersting points here. Leah starts off seeming most likely to follow her father's word, and then becomes a rebel for most of the book--against her father and against the gender roles of the Congolese. What interests me most is how she ends--you also note this Ally. She ends up a wife and mother and teacher, all of which are pretty stereotypically feminine roles. What are we supposed to think of that? She conforms to societal expectations? Her early rebellion is misguided? She realizes traditional roles are good? I like Leah, but she ends a bit strangely. Also, should she bring her family to America? She keeps asking herself that. Should she?
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