Orleanna's Voice In The Poisonwood Bible

Identifying the Theme of Cultural Arrogance in The Poisonwood Bible In the novel, The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, Kingsolver uses the contextual complexities of the family members to portray the themes in this book. This book is all about the clash of cultures. Kingsolver describes the Price family’s personal experiences of going to the Congo for missionary work during 1959, when there were political upheavals in the Republic of Congo. Orleanna and her four daughters are thrown in the fire and forced to cope with the harsh conditions of the Congo.

The way that you develop and discover yourself and your personal attributes is largely impacted by the environment you grow up in, as shown in The Poisonwood Bible. Each member of the Price family reacts differently to their being thrown into a completely new location, culture, and livelihood; the maturation path of each child varies drastically from the others, and their exposure to the Congo impacts each of them in a different way, which we observe through each character’s language and behavior in the book. The stylistic formatting, tone, and figurative language used in Leah Price’s narratives in The Poisonwood Bible change as she grows, and the maturation of her physical structure and overall mentality correlate to her development in language throughout the story. Leah enters the Congo as a religious, rule-following adolescent from the suburbs of Bethlehem, Georgia, but as time passes and she becomes accustomed to the land, Leah begins to develop in ways that were once unforeseen by her and her family.

describing these experiences Orleanna begins to question herself as to why she hasn't gave up

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.

did Orleanna know, the man she married would not be the one coming back home. Orleanna

Cultural relativism embraces the idea that one particular cultural idea varies from one society to another; therefore, ethical and moral standards are relative to what a particular culture believes to be right or wrong. Surroundings affect the way a character is shaped because of the influences they are exposed to and the opportunities available. In Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, the Price family departs from the United States to go on a twelve-month evangelical mission to the Congo; however, the family ends up staying there for a longer period because of the independence movement, political and military chaos. The characters end up fully engaged with their African experience and Adah is one of the characters affected by her surroundings and the new culture she is exposed to. Through her change of personality and final outlook we are able to understand how culture clashes and surroundings have an impact on individuals.

“Where was I, the girl or woman called Orleanna, as we traveled those roads and crossed the lines again and again? Swallowed by Nathan’s mission, body and soul” (Kingsolver 198), Orleanna Price reflects, looking back on her marriage to an emotionally abusive, religious zealot. Her entire being and life, as well as her children’s lives, are swallowed by the power of his barbed words and extreme beliefs. Over the course of The Poisonwood Bible, Orleanna struggles to free herself and her daughters from the power of her rage-filled and fanatical husband, and she is finally able to do so after she experiences the loss of her daughter. “I married a man who could never love me…

The Poisonwood Bible written by Barbara Kingsolver is about the Price family going into Africa, during a time where it was trying to gain independence from Belgium, to teach the Congolese people the way of G-d. Nathan Price, a preacher from Georgia, uprooted his family and moved them to Africa. Orleanna, Nathan's wife and mother of four, took the news upsettling and began packing immediately. Throughout the story, Orleanna is a main character but hardly ever recounts her view in the book. But through her children’s eyes, the reader sees their mother change significantly. Orleanna’s mother died when she was a young age leaving Orleanna to grow up with her aunt impoverished in Depression-era Mississippi.

In the historical fiction The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver portrays the American perspective on Africa with the use of a physical representation. In the beginning of the novel, the Price family, the protagonists and narrators, have their own perspective of their journey in a village of Kilanga which is located in South Africa in a congo. The family came with mindsets of missionaries because the father of the family, Nathan, has the desire to spread the word of God and the religion of Christianity throughout the the Congo. However, his unusually amount of urge to change the faith and religion of the African people demonstrate the American perspective because of the ignorance and the lack of acknowledgement of the people and setting. Thus, Barbara Kingsolver uses Nathan as a physical representative of the American perspective. In order to demonstrate the arrogance of the American perspective on the African people, Barbara Kingsolver dramatizes the tension between Nathan and the African people, suggesting that the American people view their principles more superior than principles of the African people despite the difference in setting and influences.

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

She believes that in the heart Africa there is still the mother of all creation. She believes that it must have the heart of the mother which is why she continuously begs for forgiveness. I think that Orleanna has the same faith as her twins do, the only difference is that she asks for forgiveness in Ruth May. The practices between the three are similar, the only discrepancy is in their

The Awakening, written by Jane Eyre, and The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, are both excellent works of classical literature that convey an important message to society. The Awakening depicts the life of Edna Pontellier, a 19th century housewife, and her daily struggles in society. In the novel, Edna strives to fit in with the affluent, Creole lifestyle of New Orleans and the Grand Isle and often questions her role as a wife and mother of two children. The Poisonwood Bible explores the adventures of the Price family, a Baptist missionary family from Georgia, and their journey to the Congo. Nathan, Orleanna, Leah, Adah, Rachel, and Ruth-May travel to Kilanga with the hope of converting the African natives to Christianity, but as the

Orleanna first narrative sums up what the book is about. The first chapter is of Orleanna price saying she is the one to blame for their experience in Africa. If they would have done things differently the family would have had a whole different experience in those two years. In Chapter 7, “Eyes in The Trees” it is Ruth May as the spirit of Africa, asking her mother to forgive herself, for the self-inflicted guilt she suffered for many years. Ruth asks her mother to let go of the pain and guilt she holds on, not just towards her daughter, but to all those lives that have been affected because of the arrogance and problems of their leaders. “Imagine a ruin so strange it must have never have happened” (pg.5) The ruin can signify the village