Contrasting Regions: Congo and United States Quotes in The Poisonwood Bible

How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

Rex Minton said we better not go to the Congo on account of the cannibal natives would boil us in a pot and eat us up. (1.2.6)

Rex Minton is probably about five years old, but most American adults at this time have similarly enlightened opinions of the Congo and its people. (Cannibals, no: deadly snakes and goiters, yes.)

Quote #2

Bosoms may wave in the breeze, mind you, but legs must be strictly hidden, top secret. (1.6.2)

Rachel's a child of the 1960s, so she doesn't remember a time when American women also had to keep their legs hidden from view. The bosoms, however, well... Let's be practical. Maybe with all the children the villagers have needing to be fed, it makes more sense to just let them run free. (The bosoms and the children.)

Quote #3

Every few years, even now, I catch the scent of Africa. [...] Ripe fruits, acrid sweat, urine, flowers, dark spices. (2.Prologue.1, 2.Prologue.3)

The scent of Africa is a piquant blend, much likes its jungles, of the beauty of nature and the less-than-glamorous realities of human life. (We all sweat and pee. Even Bradley Cooper.)