Rachel is the oldest girl in the price family and throughout the course of the book she seems the most unchanging in character. During her family’s mission in the Congo she goes through the tentative years of 16 and 17. Either because of her age or because she is the eldest, Rachel is the most rebellious of the Price children. I think this is because she finds herself an average student and very attractive. She is enraptured by 1950’s slang such as “Gee Whiz” or “bumfuzzled” or my personal favorite “heebie jeebies.” She rolls her eyes at every opportunity like any annoying teenager despite the fact that her family is facing extinction in the steaming jungle! On the outside she acts like some sort of model or Ms. America in an environment where Ms. America’s tiara would probably be used to grind up tubers. In her daily life, Rachel confines herself to her bed and her attention is limited to her hair. In short Rachel is a little stuck up because she feels above her boring authoritative father, nerdy twin sisters and Ruth May. If Rachel is close to anyone it is to Orleanna, her mother who also understands being young and beautiful. It is obvious that Rachel feels strong sibling rivalry with Leah because of Leah’s “Genius.” Rachel despite being a year older, uses words like anomalous when she means anonymous. So obviously she feels threatened by the idea that her younger sister is smarter then her. Nathan Price clearly dislikes Rachel the most out of his children. She is a “thorn in his side” and he is constantly disciplining her. Rachel throws a massive tantrum when her father refuses to leave the Congo with the Underdown’s and this is where she begins to crack. I doubt
Despite the the comments made about rachel by my fellow classmate rafi, i do not think that Rachel is completely stuck up and dumb. yes to an outsider she appears to be very self absorbed and concerned with materialistic issues, but if you look at alot of her diary entries, she is not completely worthless. When a guest Anatole arrives to dine with the price family, Rachel is the only one who stays to listen to what is said between her father and Anatole. She is not interested only in the way she looks but in the people that are around her. She has a way of sort of laughing at the seriousness which her father feels for the religion, and I like something about that. (not to be sacreligious) I think the fact that she can form an opinion of her own about the religion and realize the difference between over the top, and not is impressive. Everybody always assumes that she is a dumb broad, but i don't think she is as dumb as she lets on. Maybe she finds some comfort in her obsession with appearance and choses to occupy herself with thoughts because she is scared of Africa and the unknown. Maybe that is why she confines herself to the inside of her African mudhouse because the African culture is so different and difficult to grasp. Plus. it is not that easy to explore a world that is so judgemental of her too. She is constantly pinched and squeezed as she walks the paths of Africa by those who are critical of the way she looks. Cut the girl some slack dude. She's an outsider.
Rachel is actually a really interesting character. These are good posts, but in the future, focus on a specific piece of text that defines her in the novel. (Include the passage and page #. You should not both use the same passage.)
"No matter how much you flirt or carry on like a cool cat and roll up your skirt waistband on the bus they still think your L-7. A square, in other words." pg 177 I think this is a rare quote coming from rachel because it shows her dissatisfaction with something that is not the Congo. She actually is unhappy with the system she participates in American high school. At first we think all she wants is to go back to Bethelehem and become prom queen. The truth is that because of her family it would be impossible for her to achieve extremely high social standing in High school. So what now is Rachel's purpose? It's for certain that she hates staying in Kilanga but maybe this explains why Rachel took the choices she did. She could have somehow used Axelroot or one of her other husbands to go back to America but instead she carves herself a small gilded shelter from both America and Africa in Johannesburg.
6 comments:
this is my sisters e-mail but If i could i would take rachel
-Rafael
this is the result of waiting last minute to do this. fine i chose rachel
Rachel is the oldest girl in the price family and throughout the course of the book she seems the most unchanging in character. During her family’s mission in the Congo she goes through the tentative years of 16 and 17. Either because of her age or because she is the eldest, Rachel is the most rebellious of the Price children. I think this is because she finds herself an average student and very attractive. She is enraptured by 1950’s slang such as “Gee Whiz” or “bumfuzzled” or my personal favorite “heebie jeebies.” She rolls her eyes at every opportunity like any annoying teenager despite the fact that her family is facing extinction in the steaming jungle! On the outside she acts like some sort of model or Ms. America in an environment where Ms. America’s tiara would probably be used to grind up tubers. In her daily life, Rachel confines herself to her bed and her attention is limited to her hair. In short Rachel is a little stuck up because she feels above her boring authoritative father, nerdy twin sisters and Ruth May. If Rachel is close to anyone it is to Orleanna, her mother who also understands being young and beautiful. It is obvious that Rachel feels strong sibling rivalry with Leah because of Leah’s “Genius.”
Rachel despite being a year older, uses words like anomalous when she means anonymous. So obviously she feels threatened by the idea that her younger sister is smarter then her. Nathan Price clearly dislikes Rachel the most out of his children. She is a “thorn in his side” and he is constantly disciplining her. Rachel throws a massive tantrum when her father refuses to leave the Congo with the Underdown’s and this is where she begins to crack. I doubt
Despite the the comments made about rachel by my fellow classmate rafi, i do not think that Rachel is completely stuck up and dumb. yes to an outsider she appears to be very self absorbed and concerned with materialistic issues, but if you look at alot of her diary entries, she is not completely worthless. When a guest Anatole arrives to dine with the price family, Rachel is the only one who stays to listen to what is said between her father and Anatole. She is not interested only in the way she looks but in the people that are around her. She has a way of sort of laughing at the seriousness which her father feels for the religion, and I like something about that. (not to be sacreligious) I think the fact that she can form an opinion of her own about the religion and realize the difference between over the top, and not is impressive. Everybody always assumes that she is a dumb broad, but i don't think she is as dumb as she lets on. Maybe she finds some comfort in her obsession with appearance and choses to occupy herself with thoughts because she is scared of Africa and the unknown. Maybe that is why she confines herself to the inside of her African mudhouse because the African culture is so different and difficult to grasp. Plus. it is not that easy to explore a world that is so judgemental of her too. She is constantly pinched and squeezed as she walks the paths of Africa by those who are critical of the way she looks. Cut the girl some slack dude. She's an outsider.
Rachel is actually a really interesting character. These are good posts, but in the future, focus on a specific piece of text that defines her in the novel. (Include the passage and page #. You should not both use the same passage.)
"No matter how much you flirt or carry on like a cool cat and roll up your skirt waistband on the bus they still think your L-7. A square, in other words."
pg 177
I think this is a rare quote coming from rachel because it shows her dissatisfaction with something that is not the Congo. She actually is unhappy with the system she participates in American high school.
At first we think all she wants is to go back to Bethelehem and become prom queen. The truth is that because of her family it would be impossible for her to achieve extremely high social standing in High school. So what now is Rachel's purpose? It's for certain that she hates staying in Kilanga but maybe this explains why Rachel took the choices she did. She could have somehow used Axelroot or one of her other husbands to go back to America but instead she carves herself a small gilded shelter from both America and Africa in Johannesburg.
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