Although Adah seems like the darker twin, I don't think you can honestly label her like that. Both Adah and Leah change. Adah is pessimistic, but she's def not evil. Adah is extremely misunderstood. She does not conform to society's standards, and, as a consequence, is seen as a threat. Adah really cares for the the Congolese. She sees her old lifestyle as extremely lavish. (The brands of toothpaste example) She values all life--later on in the book when she quits her job as a doctor because she cannot stand the fact that people's lives in the US are being saved when there are so many deaths in Africa.
Leah actually becomes darker. When her faith in her dad is shaken, she loses faith in everything else except her love, Anatole. She gives up the idea of religion even. So, in this sense, A&L switch places.


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In addition to the duality of human nature one can find many other common themes in Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (DJMH) and Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible (PB), one being the actual physical deformity of Mr. Hyde and Ada (as Adah so fondly refers to her crooked self). In How to Read Literature Like a Professor , Thomas C. Foster says that any physical mark or imperfection in literature differentiates a character from others "thematically, metaphorically, or spiritually"(193). This idea of one being "marked for greatness" also can mean that one's deformity allows one special abilities and powers, as seen in superheros like Spiderman and all of the glorious X-men. Mr. Hyde in DJMH and Ada in PB both have physical deformities that, despite the duration of their existence, allow both characters to experience the world and become enlightened in ways unknown to their relatives and friends. In Jekyll's full statement of the case he talks about the freedom that he experiences with the transformative potion and the rush he feels at knowing that, despite all his naughty and monstrous behavior, at the intake of the draught, "Edward Hyde would pass away like the stain of breath upon the mirror"(46). Though he is enslaved by it and ultimately led to his demise, Jekyll's juice is initially a saviour to the doctor, delivering him from his world of etiquette and morals and allowing him to explore his every erotic, violent, and animalistic desire. Ada, suffering from what is later revealed as a mental disorder of sorts, is granted the gift of hemiplegia that, along with a "strong sympathy for Dr. Jekyll's dark desires and for Mr. Hyde's crooked body"(57), gives Ada a slower pace in life that often results in her being left behind. Her "slow body" rhythm allows Ada to take in the Congo culturally, politically, and spiritually more than any other member of her family. She finds that, without a quick pace to match her sister, her family, and the world around her, she discovers sights of her own that give a depth, beauty, and balance to life, things that Ada seaches for in herself. Both Mr. Hyde's and Ada's crooked bodies are what bring them to the thresholds in their quests for what Foster calls the real reason all characters go on quests: self-knowledge. It is Jekyll's experience with his juice that forms the medium in his dual nature that teaches him the truth about the duality of man and the danger in "playing God" and "deals with the devil", spiritual ailments that Foster discusses in another chapter of his book. Ada's crooked body is what causes her to be trampled in the ant attack on the village of Kilanga. As she fights in the crowd for survival, Ada realizes that her apathetic, spectator role is really a lie and that she believes she deserves to live just like all other living things, transforming her outlook on life and propelling her into a new self that takes action and lives purposefully. This comparison can be made to any of the members of the Price family, as all have physical and/or emotional scars that dramatically affect the course of their lives. Both pieces of literature show the significance that deformities give to the lives of literary characters and the greater emphasis they can make in those characters' quest for self-knowledge.

