Bonesetter's Daughter and Poisonwood 2

Political Climate:
In relation to generational differences, political turmoil also leads to difficulty for women in these two novels. For example, again, where Luling lived in China during the war with the Japanese and all of the trouble happening with her family and the Chang clan, she had much more to worry about than Ruth who is simply preoccupied with her family and her job. Although Ruth may feel out of place or confused, not knowing what to do at times when dealing with her mother being sick or her family not being unified, her mother had to deal with issues of much greater magnitude. However it is debatable as to who’s situation is truly worse, because at least Luling could recognize her enemy in the past, and fight against it, whereas Ruth remains somewhat helpless in difficult situations. Therefore, when her mother comes to America with Ruth, perhaps she acts the way she does towards her daughter, in a somewhat overbearing and overprotective manner, because of her life in China. Orlenana too, is like this, where she may, for example, encourage her daughters not to speak out against their father, or to do certain activities they don’t want to, because they are in the Congo, not in their quaint , little hometown in Georgia. For example, Rachel is clearly the most vain and materialistic of the sisters, her mirror being one of her most prized possessions. She is constantly miserable in the Congo, perhaps sometimes, even with her mother, however, what she fails to realize is that life style is unrealistic to have in the Congo, where it is a completely different political scene. Thus, while she may become frustrated with her mother, because she wants to leave s badly due to the fact that she cannot maintain this modern, traditional American lifestyle, her mother cannot control the political issues. However, in contract to the Chinese political issues at the time for Luling, where they caused her to become extremely restricted in her actions, in the Congo, without the diplomatic problems that were present at the time of the Price girls they may have never discovered independence and freedom for themselves. Because they were forced to choose between life and death, between leaving the Congo and staying, even if it went against their fathers wishes, they were able to also free themselves from the restraints on the status of women for this time period.
Society’s view/ expectations of women:
Often times society may also set standards for how women should be seen and for how far they can elevate their social status. Ultimately, this inhibits them from succeeding past a certain point, because they are not “supposed” to. In the Bonesetter’s Daughter, as a young girl, Luling lives according to Chinese culture and tradition. As a women, she is designated to perform certain tasks and possess certain abilities. After Precious Auntie dies, her “mother” tells her she is lucky they didn’t sell her as a prostitute, thus showing the little control she has over her life. However, when she is sent to the orphanage, and breaks away from her strict adherence to Chinese tradition in her former home, she is also able to have more social mobility. As she studies at the orphanage she rises to a scholar-like position as a teacher, one which women did not traditionally have access to at this time in China, thus showing how cultural restrictions play a role in the women’s status in society. Also, because the religion practiced by the Prices’ tends to portray women in a certain way where they should not rise up past a certain point and are often seen as “not good enough” Orleana and her daughters are also oppressed. Thus, religious implications that women may not succeed also prohibit them from moving forwards in society. More so though, the way Orelana was brought up also depicts how women were supposed to behave. One activity she does with the girls is making hope chests, which is in a way demeaning, because it suggests that the only thing they have to look forward to, is marriage, versus doing something else with their lives. Orleana is trapped by the births of her daughters, where all she has time tor do, and all she is expected to do is raise them. Rachel though, ironically, is the only one who really enjoys the activity, seeing as she’s the one who wants the traditional American teenage girl lifestyle the most, it makes sense.
Ironically enough though, Rachel is the one out of the four sisters who succeeds in getting what she wants, which was difficult for women at this time. With her somewhat selfish and deceptive approach to doing whatever she can to get out of Africa, she runs off with Eben Axelroot. While the reader may think of her negatively because of the non-heroic and somewhat sneaky way in which she gets herself out of what she considers a horrible situation in Africa, on the other hand, she is evidently self-sufficient, being able to get what she wants. Although Axelroot also has questionable morality, the reader is not as shocked as his actions in getting ahead, perhaps because he is a man. Thus, it is shown that while men can get away with behaving in a certain way to succeed, women are looked at as perhaps, less feminine, or crossing social standards, when they attempt to get ahead in the same way. Leah however, finds success in another way, where she follows her heart and is finally able to ignore her fathers demands. She chooses to stay in the Congo, not because of her father, but because of Anatole. Thus, she also does what is best for her, even if it was uncommon for women to do so, especially for a white women in the Congo who chose to remain as the one standing out among others of a completely different culture than her.