1987 AP Exam Essay 2

     In the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover, she presents a social issue through the eyes of a girl girl and contrasts the social issue in two different settings, the United States and in the Congo, Africa.
     The social issue present is the role of women in a culture from two different regions.  In the Congo women are not allowed to participate in a man's duties, like hunting. The people of the Congo immediately refused since it is custom that women help clean out and cook the kill. Leah was able to get a kill, perfectly enough for someone else to try to take credit. Leah was clearly capable of being useful during the hunt, but due to her gender and the custom of the people she is confined to their rules. Leah was never use to this kind of treatment in the U.S. she was only exposed to racism for the color of the individuals skin, even though it never affected her.
     In the Congo, Leah felt different due to her gender as well. In the United States women still had more rights than the colored, it was because of color you couldn't have as many privileges. Now she experiences the lack of privileges or luxuries because of her gender and color. She felt out of place since the village people looked at her odd, or she never had friends since girls her age had the roles of married women already.
     The social problems one placed compared to another really allows the reader to see how the social problems differ. It always allows to see how fast one region has fixed theirs while others are still behind.