As the story of the Price's family and their trip to Africa progresses, things continue to get worse and worse and it is now easier to understand the true feelings of all the characters. Orleana, Adah and even Rachel reveal what wasn't already known about them from earlier in the story. Characteristics that had been hidden came out one way or another in "The Judges."

Beginning with Orleana the novel reveals how she met Nathan and how he became the man that he is. At this point in the story it is already very clear how Orleana feels about herself, but now we see why she feels this way. Her mood is always sad because she feels that she is inferior to Nathan and that she is basically useless. "I'd come to believe that God was on his side ... I feared him more than it's possible to fear...