Essay On The Poisonwood Bible

In the novel, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Kingsolver uses different literary techniques to develop the harsh setting and have the characters look weak and overwhelmed. The literary techniques used to define the characters and the setting are violent imagery and violent juxtaposition.

Opinions, self-assurance, and knowledge – these aspects of one’s character constantly develop throughout one’s lifetime. In some cases, opinions shift from one end of the spectrum to the opposite end of the spectrum, while the knowledge gained from the world guides one to become more self-assured. In The Poisonwood Bible, Leah, the daughter of a passionate preacher, gains several unfamiliar experiences after moving to Congo such as the peoples’ way of life and insight on what the Africans think about her family. Throughout The Poisonwood Bible, Kingsolver thoughtfully uses textual features such as figurative language, syntax, and tone to show how Leah’s character gradually progresses from a blinded worshiper who wants nothing more than to follow in her father’s footsteps to an individualistic young woman who strives to live a life without her father’s influence. To begin the novel, Kingsolver establishes Leah’s beliefs by utilizing different forms of figurative language.

In The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, the aspect of biblical allusion is clearly present throughout the majority of the novel. For example, one of the most conspicuous allusions to the Bible is the way that Kingsolver has purposely named some of the main characters in her book after different people and images in the Bible. Kingsolver uses this biblical allusion to develop important themes, events, and characters in her novel. Kingsolver makes references to the Bible by tying in and creating similarities between important events and themes in the Bible and important events and themes in her novel.

America has been, and still is, known for its obsession with materialism and ignorance towards lifestyles not surrounded by grandeur. Success in America could be defined as a life full of incredible wealth and few worldly problems, whereas success in a third world country can be defined as simply living to have healthy children. Are Americans truly aware of the stark difference between their own lives and the lives of the majority of humanity? Probably not. In The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver uses the character of Rachel to represent, explore, and explain these American cultural issues. Rachel Price represents the voluntary ignorance, political issues, and materialism woven throughout the novel and America.

From the time people are born to their last moments of childhood, they invest in an object of security, something to keep them safe, something to always be there. The true mark of adulthood comes from abandoning this security item to walk forward without any weight. Just like all people, Leah in Barbara Kingsolver’s “The Poisonwood Bible” was no different. Leah spent her whole life clinging on to her father, Nathan, and as a result, she was blinded to what truly mattered to her. The loving presence of a family could not be seen behind his controlling ways. Her dependence on him kept herself from realizing whom she actually cared about. Moreover, the reliance on Nathan meant her actions were truly not her own. Rather

Imperialism has been a strong and long lasting force, oppressing societies for generations on end. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, demonstrates how the Congo is continuously affected by this concept and ideology. Throughout this story, Kingsolver manipulates each family member and individual within the book, to better show Western and European ideas and attitudes, to convey the large amount of hypocrisy, in foreigner’s actions.

Book two is entitled “The Revelation” and the girls’ sections is entitled “The Things We Learned.” The Revelation was intended to mainly the Price family, excluding the father. The theme revelation has another definition: apocalypse. In the bible, the apocalypse leads to destruction and demise right before when God makes it a better place. In connection to the book, at this time the new prime minister, Patrice Lumumba was elected. This election set the stage for the independence movement in the Congo. In addition, Methuselah (the parrot) passes away as soon as he is freed, after being banned from liberation for most of his life. This foretells the destiny of Congo and the delicate independence they acquired. The Book of Revelation explains about how God’s creation encountered savagery and anguish so that it will become altered. The Belgian doctor who treats Ruth May for her broken arm has a little conflict with the Reverend. He prophesies that Congo will experience savagery and anguish if it changes to a self-determining state from a colony. In the Revelation section of the story, all the members of the Price family come to face a new sense of comprehension about the Congo’s culture, plants, animals and tradition. Throughout the book, the characters go through many hardships and success which permits them to learn

Throughout a lifetime, many things are gained; experience, wisdom, knowledge, as well as a sure sense of self. But along with all these great things come regret, guilt, and shame of past events. Everyone deals with these in different ways, sometimes turning to religion and denial as coping mechanisms. In the novel The Poisonwood Bible, By Barbara Kingsolver, each member of the Price family deals with a personal guilt either gained while on their mission in the Congo or long before. This novel exemplifies the different types of guilt the Price family experienced throughout their stay in the Congo, and shows various means of reconciliation and forgiveness as the guilt is absolved.

The wrong and sinful actions people commit lead to a life of guilt and sense of ineluctable culpability. In Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, Nathan Price, a reverend and father of four, leads his family to the Congo during a time of political chaos to compensate for his guilt stemming from his past. As his religious motives incline him to convert the Congolese people, he finds it difficult to do so, and struggles to reconcile with himself after his unintentional evasion of the Bataan Death March. As he struggles to forgive himself, he drifts from his family, placing them second to the Congo mission. Nathan's ineptitude in syncretizing his beliefs with the Congolese leads to his failure in absolving himself from his past sins, which becomes a symbol 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

In a world full of blame and lack of accountability, an individual’s role in injustice needs to be questioned. In the early 1960’s, after many years under Belgian rule, the Congolese people formed an uprising and gained independance. However, the Congo was ill prepared for the organization that independence demanded. The Soviet Union offered aid to the Prime Minister of the Congo. Since this was during the Cold War, the United States retaliated and supported a coup led by Colonel Joseph Mobutu. Mobutu ruled with an iron fist, resulting in pain and oppression of the Congolese. Looking back on history, it is easy to see who was at fault. But at the time, it was not easy to identify blame, especially for the Americans. Barbara Kingsolver wrote about the Congo’s trials much later in 1991. She used a narration from baptist missionary family to symbolize the different kinds of guilt Americans share. In Anne M. Austenfield’s narrative journal, she described Kingsolver’s ability to use, "several character-focalizers whose limited perspectives project highly subjective views of history" (Austenfeld). This technique allowed for Kingsolver to not only produce a more reliable account of what occurred, but to depict her desired theme and message. Kingsolver, in her novel The Poisonwood Bible, uses a political allegory to explore the different notions of guilt through the limited perspectives of her characters.

In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, the setting, Congo, presents the reader with plethora of foreshadowing, analogies, and anthropomorphism. Through literary devices, Congo showcases emotions, ideas, and personality to create another character and add another dimension to Price family’s story. In the beginning of the story, Congo speaks its pessimistic view on the Price family’s mission through analogy. When the Price family arrives at Congo, one of the first things Nathan tries to teach is his farming technique.

Many writers use setting to establish the theme of a literary work. In Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, the setting establishes three overall themes of the work as the contrasting regions of the Congo and the United States, arrogant dominance, and injustice. The Poisonwood Bible gives to readers all the gruesome details of the most recent history of the Congo, the truth about living through it, and the vast differences between two lifestyles: that of those who sat contently in their pleasant, undemanding lives during the late 20th century, and that of those who weren’t so privileged, but were also content in their own ways.

Although there are many instances of small rebellion, the most altering is when Leah’s desire to hunt among Congolese brethren is forbidden by her father. Hunting is not seen as a probable skill a woman can succeed in therefore it insults her father tremendously. Despite his disapproval, Leah follows her heart advocating her self-worth. Leah succeeds on her hunt, killing her “first game...a young male impala” which allows her to find her strengths beyond her Father’s solitude (page number). Her victory proves to instill a new image in Leah of her foreseen potential. Not only does Leah of herself in hunting, but she discovers her skills in teaching. In Leah’s enlightenment of herself, Anatole propels her potential in both attribute’s with encouragement in her

Living by the Rules “In Congo, it seems the land owns the people” (Kingsolver 283). Barbara Kingsolver, who wrote the book The Poisonwood Bible, uses this quote to particularly mean while in other countries, rules are mandatory to obey. This quote has quite an affect on its citizens as well as newcomers. The Congo influences the general public through change and captivity/freedom. When first arriving to the Africa, Nathan Price’s, a Baptist minister, key objective is to change the hearts of the Congolese people by saving as many as he possibly can.