Essay #1

Loss is powerful. Loss is the state of grief when deprived of someone or something of value. Everyone experiences this sometime in their life and everyone copes with it differently. There is no one right way to grieve after a loss so one must find a way to heal. One may not realize how much they will miss something until they no longer have it, and everyone copes differently.
In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Orleanna Price grew up in poverty in Mississippi. Even though she was surrounded by depression, Orleanna was always happy. She was a free-spirited, wild child. She was beautiful and passionate about the natural world, that is, until she married Nathan and was forced to move their family to the Congo. From the moment Orleanna married Nathan and they had three kids together, she began to lose her spiritedness. She was stuck carrying out her husband's mission and became a passive, quiet wife. She was dragged to the jungles of Congo where her life seemed to be on hold. She had lost herself, her home in her heart, and her physical homeland. Orleanna was unhappy, yet stayed and tried to be a good wife and mother. She roamed through life, unexcited and not the same free-spirited, passionate girl she once was. She felt trapped in the Congo and lost control over herself. Orleanna was weak. After she had lost herself, her homeland, and now her daughter, indirectly due to Nathan, Orleanna gathered up the strength to leave. This loss empowered her inside to march out of the Congo and never look back. Leah told us, "Mother never once turned around to look over her shoulder." Orleanna's grief turned into power and determination to make a change.
Orleanna was now changed. Cutting her ties with Nathan and the Congo also cut the ties of her being a passive, obedient wife. She reconnected with society and herself. The losses she experienced compelled her to turn her life around. Yes the loss of her old life was alienating, but it was also enriching. It pushed her to work hard to benefit mankind, from marching for Civil Rights to raising money for Amnesty International.