The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver does a great job weaving the lives of her characters into the historical backdrop of a country in turmoil.
I know I have a great lack of understanding of the history of the entire continent of Africa. There is much I would like to understand and more that I haven't even heard of yet. Seriously. I know governments can be blood thirsty for their own ideas of what is good and profitable, but I never realize how terrible they are and have been.
It's hard to decide where the goodwill of an individual creeps upon the freewill of another. I most heartily agree with the statement 'Misunderstanding is my cornerstone. It's everyone's...Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call civilization." Amen and amen. But, if this is a truth, than there must be a way for the opposite to happen as well. There must also be truths that are mistaken for illusions, which makes the whole figuring out right and wrong and the in-between more important to find.
The Poisonwood Bible is thought-provoking and has valid points to make. I think the portrayal of the father is a bit one-sided as he remains static and the explanations of his behavior are almost nearly a plea to allow his character to remain believable (and, I know that this kind of person can and does exist), but I probably would have left out the excusing sections of the book. A static character is a static character. On the other hand, Rachel proved to be a great court-jester and kept things from getting too serious and preachy. Her ignorance not only in human interactions but her mistakes in speech made me laugh. It's a clever author to write intelligent characters at the same time as writing one so blatantly dumb-blond and clueless to the fact.