Ally Fox is Nathan reincarnated. Really.

As the title of this post states, I think that Ally Fox/Harrison Ford is basically the same person as Nathan. If I was naive I might even say that Barbara Kingsolver ripped the Mosquito Coast off. The similarities between these two movies are staggering. There are a few differences, however. It seems more like Ally left the US because he was sick of the "junk" that the country was made of, while Nathan WENT to Kilanga to "save" people. Therefore it would make Ally an emigrant and Nathan an immigrant, in technical terms. Either way, they are both men of (very strong) conviction. They believe in their purpose, however ridiculous it gets in the end. Ally is set on finding a new home in the jungle and living completely autonomously; Nathan is commited to bringing salvation to the African village and in turn basically guaranteeing a place in Heaven for him. They both act without needing feedback from their families. In many cases, they seem like asses.

Much like the argument for Nathan, it could be said that Ally Fox is not to blame for the hardships that his family must deal with. In some ways, he is innocent because it's possible he truly believes that every little thing he is doing is to better his family in the end. Just like Ally, Nathan believes that all his preaching really will save the Africans. Yet when we watch (literally or figuratively) them go about their goals, it seems they are extremely ignorant and selfish. How can someone not see that their entire family just wants to go back home? In both cases, it is an extreme case of blind fanaticism. The only difference is that Nathan's goal is to bring salvation to the Africans through Christ, and Ally is an independent inventor who is a smartass about...well, everything. He does not believe in the Bible, for one. Although it may seem like this one fact contradicts the statement that Nathan and Ally are the same, it is merely a superficial characteristic. With a few fix ups, they both could be exactly the same.