Analysis Of The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

She is never the same after Ruth May’s death and it is shown through the novel on multiple occasions. It is most prevalent when Adah says “My mother’s sanest position is to wear only the necessary parts of the outfit and leave off the rest” (Kingsolver 492). This does not only show the effect of the Congo on her, but of how she thinks that Ruth May is still with the Congo in spirit. This has greatly affected her emotionally as seen in this quotation. Orleanna when she first found out that Ruth May died acted differently than how most people would act to the news. Leah says that, Mother did not rant or tear her hair. She behaved as if someone had already told her,” (368). The death of Ruth May affected her so greatly that she did not know what to do with news of her death. This shows how much Orleanna loved Ruth May and that the shock of her death affected her emotionally very much.

Orleanna is the mother of four daughters and her being this character as well as her personality of being caring and invested in others creates her purpose for the story as retelling the story of her family and their trip to the Congo. She is creating this scene to show what happened and how she has learned from this experience and hopes to improve others lives based on her experiences. In the political allegory, Orleanna is the person in the world who has seen the wrong doing’s of the world, in this case the imperialism of countries, and advises those to step up and support the cause bettering lives of those less fortunate. Her character creates a call to action through the miseries she has seen her family struggle through. The author’s purpose in writing The Poisonwood Bible is to not only show the different influences and outcomes that colonialism has on people and nations, but to also show that it is wrong and not necessarily the superior way of doing something. Orleanna is the spokesperson for how the colonialism is wrong and something must

Being the strong- willed woman Rose of Sharon is she moves on with life. Then at the end of the

All families have conflicts, and the Price family is no exception. Within the story there is an overriding conflict regarding the Price women‘s opposition to the move to Africa. Beyond this, Nathan has many other conflicts with each of his daughters. Leah and her father had a very different relationship than the other three Price daughters. Leah is the only daughter that wholeheartedly supports her father completely. As the story moves on she is faced with the harsh realities of daily life in the Congo, and begins to see her Fathers faults. She soon wants to be her own person, and not be controlled by her father. The major parent/child conflict arises when Nathan does not recognize his daughter’s

her household she resorts to outside sources, making herself a victim to boys, which creates a

He does not care about their welfare, only that he saves as many souls as he can. Adah, who can most identify with the Congolese, recognizes what it is like to be ignored and forgotten, much like the countries occupying the Congo do too. Imperialism. Instead of helping the country fend off invaders, the US becomes an invader; only caring when the invaded countries misfortune can benefit the intruders cause. Rachel says it best after reading a Belgian newspaper that claims the Belgians find the Congolese participating in cannibalism. “If they came to our village that day, they would have interrupted Mother in the middle of scrubbing the floor and about twelve little naked boys having a pee-pee contest across the road,” (161). The Belgians paint themselves as heroes to the Congolese instead of villains who enslave and cut their hands off, similar to Nathan who sees himself as the man of God saving the

Bible, Orleanna Price values only her daughters and herself. Through her sacrifices can this value

you wonder what is going to happen to her. Also we learn that she only

Even when her husband passes away, she does not break down into hysteria; she grieves quietly: “The language of her grief is silence... Over the years, silence within her small body has grown large and powerful” (Kogawa, 14). Despite her lack of words, Obasan is a source of love and steadfast support for her niece Naomi and her nephew Stephen. When their parents disappear, Obasan steps in, never hesitating to bear the weight of caring for the abandoned children. She feeds them, clothes them, and ensures their well-being under impossible circumstances. Her commitment to them never falters, even when they neglect her. Stephen repeatedly treats Obasan with impatience and rudeness. Regardless, Obasan constantly puts the needs of others before her own. Her actions are aimed at making the people around her happy. Obasan does everything in her power to ensure that her niece and nephew find a place for themselves in the world and Naomi takes comfort in her gentleness and dependability. Despite her silence, Obasan is a focal point of the narrative and at the center of the main character Naomi’s life.

This is apparent by the use of the character’s perspective about nature and the ultimate result it has upon them. This is in its most apparent shape when Orleanna says “We aimed for no more than to have dominion over every creature that moved upon the earth... Now you laugh, day and night, while you gnaw on my bones. But what else could we have thought? Only that it began and ended with us. What do we know, even now?” (Kingsolver 10). This quote by Orleanna about nature, shows the true power of it regarding the motifs of freedom and captivity. This is seen because of the fact that there is a progression and a change of thought that quickly evolves from the family and her thinking that they had the freedom to have dominion over nature, to she surrendering to nature and saying that she is captive forever because of nature that nature instead of being loving, betrayed her and is now seeking for the forgiveness of it. Another way this is seen it when Leah said “Its heavenly paradise in the Congo, and sometimes I want to live here forever,” (104). This extract from the novel at first glance may not seem like an important passage, but it is considering the fact that she feels that she has the motifs of freedom and love at her grasp as she feels free in the Congo and loves it. This ultimately will not last as their contrasting motifs will eventually kick in making her a prisoner of the Congo by her own merits keeping her captive in there for the rest of her life, while also betraying her because the land and the nature inside it made her lose her little sister. Finally, this connects to the thesis and the other paragraphs because of the fact that it shows this hope versus reality situation which is created when these motifs are combined, furthermore it shows the colorfulness of life in the book because of the fact that it shows the way

As their journey to and through the Congo is just beginning it is already seen that compromise will be the key source for survival. The Congo did not have much to offer the Price family, though Leah has high expectations for it. She “expected everything: jungle flowers, wild roaring beasts. God’s Kingdom in its pure, unenlightened glory.” ( Kingsolver, 17) The Congo is already revealing an expectation Leah would never have found between the pages of a King James version, the rewiring of her thoughts on equality and her inner need to fight for justice are compelling emotions that are overtaking her. She can see that this place poses a potential challenge much greater than anything a hot Georgia summer put her family through. Still measuring her worth in the few short breaths her father permits her, Leah is still determined the Congo would not stop her from gaining the acceptance of her father. “If only I could ever bring forth all that I knew quickly enough to suit father” (Kingsolver, 37), but little did she know that nothing her female mind could do or say would suit the righteous Nathan Price. Similar to The White Man’s Burden, once given the thought of superiority nothing “beneath’ that was beneficial. Leah’s cognitive thought process is starting its shift into survivor instead of

The Poisonwood Bible is a book about a man named Nathan Price who takes his wife and four daughters on a mission into the Congo. All of their ups and downs are documented throughout the story. This novel was written by Barbara Kingsolver in 1998. This story was inspired from her own personal trip that her father took her on, to the Congo, where they lived without and water, electricity, and many other necessities. During the time period that this book was being written, a lot of feminist and post-colonial literature was being acknowledged. Feminist literature is both nonfiction and fiction that supports women by defending political, economic and social rights for women. Many works of feminist literature depict strong willed women who

The separation from her old world is now complete. She is in the unknown where the next stage the initiation begins.

begins to realize her self that she does not have to continue living her life in

Despite the fact that Oryx has minimal lines throughout the novel, the reader is still able to get a feel for her attitude towards the changing society she’s living in. Oryx's job is to teach the Crakers about botany and market the BlyssPluss Pill. When the worldwide disease began to spread, Oryx realized that it emerged from every city that she had visited to market the pill. Once she found out, she called Jimmy in hysterics, exclaiming, “’It was in the pills. It was in those pills I was giving away, the ones I was selling. It’s all the same