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Exposition
This novel was about Nathan Price, his wife Orleanna, and his four daughters Leah, Rachel, Adah, and Ruth May. Nathan is a minister turned missionary. He moves his family ffrom Georgia to the Belgian Congo for what is supposed to be a successful mission trip. It was supposed to be over the course of one year. The girls do not want to go for the most part, but they have no choice. The whole family moves to the town of Kilanga to serve a mission for the Lord. -
Conflict
The main conflict in this novel is Nathan Price's need to "save" the natives. When he cannot however, he becomes angry and abusive to his family. The women feel guilty on some level for not understanding their father and husband. This creates several small conflicts within the major conflict that are not resolved until the end of the novel. -
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Time period
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Rising Action
The are many events that happen throughout the course of this book. First, the family arrives at the Congo and stay despite the many challenges created by the native people and the movement for independence. While the leaders of the village at first welcomed the prices, they soon began to resent the American missionaries. Leah grows close to the translator Anatole and causes by participating in a hunt originally for males only. -
Turning point.
After the participation of Leah in the hunt, one of the village leaders puts a green mamba snake by the henhouse of the Price family. The snake's victim was Ruth May, the youngest sister. She died in the arms of her sister. The village holds a makeshift funeral for her and bury her in the village. Then the price family's life changes completely. -
Falling Action
O rleanna will no longer stay with her husband, who just watched his daughter die without saying anything. She leaves with the three remaining girls and they all take their own seperate paths. Leah stays in the Congo and marries the man she loved, Anatole. Adah pursues a medical career. Orleanna lives a quiet life, and Rachel goes through many men for her personal pleasure and their riches. -
Resolution
At the end of the novel, Orleanna, Rachel, Leah, and Adah all return to the Congo to visit Ruth May's grave site one last time before Orleanna died. They find out that Nathan Price went insane, lived in the jungle as a hermit, and died alone. They also find out through talking with a Congolese woman that Kilanga no longer exists. It has been taken over by the forest. It has if nothing ever happened.
