Poisonwood Bible Analysis

...Or The Bible: While reading The Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver we understand the biblical influence in the Prices family and the overall book, however upon closer examination we find many biblical allusions. Yet, rather than simply portraying the story and message in an attempt to convey it to the world it seems as if Kingsolver desires that we analyze her seemingly complex book through these allusions in an attempt to understand her characters on a deeper level and to experience what they’re going through personally. As read in How to Read Literature Like a Professor’s sixth chapter “... Or The Bible”; biblical allusions are meant to provide in-depth analysis of a story or character. The reason these biblical references are used, according to Thomas C. Foster is because “most of the great tribulations to which

While reading The Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver we understand the biblical influence in the Prices family and the overall book, however upon closer examination one finds many biblical allusions. Yet, rather than simply portraying the story and message in an attempt to convey it to the world, it seems as if Kingsolver desires that those who analyze her seemingly complex book through these allusions will understand her characters on a deeper level and experience what they’re going through personally. As read in How to Read Literature Like a Professor’s sixth chapter “... Or The Bible”; biblical allusions are meant to provide in-depth analysis of a story or character. The reason these biblical references are used, according to Thomas C. Foster

1. Barbara Kingsolver explores a quest in her novel “The Poisonwood Bible”. The criteria of a quest consist of a quester, a destination, a purpose, challenges, and reasons for the quest. In this instance the quester is Orlenna Price whom demonstrate guilt consistently. Orlenna is going there to accompany her husband, who is seeking to convert others. She feels guilty due to the death of her daughter and now that guilt remains as one of the challenges she faces. This is mostly transparent when she says “How do we aim to live with it?” (Kingsolver 9). Her guilt revolves around the destination to the Congo. Due to the Congo her one of her children survives. Now she has to deal with that challenge which is her guilt.

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.

There is strong juxtaposition in The Poisonwood Bible when it comes to American versus Congolese culture. While Mama Mwanza is viewed as equal in the Congo for her disability, Adah is considered an outcast in American society because of her hemiplegia. Ruth May talks about Mama Mwanza’s disability as if it is something strange, yet she reveals that the people living in their village do not look at Mama Mwanza as any different from them. She says that “Why, they just don’t let on, like she was a regular person. Nobody bats their eye when she scoots by on her hands and goes on down to her field or the river to wash clothes with the other ladies that work down there every day.” The phrasing of this implies that the Price family looks at Mama Mwanza

The novels The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, and The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, both contain a female protagonist who strives to shine light on women’s society and demonstrates how women should be treated. These two women, Edna Pontellier in The Awakening and Orleanna Price in The Poisonwood Bible, live in two separate worlds but stumble upon the same ceiling. Although Edna is a wealthy homeowner living in New Orleans and Orleanna is a missionary from a poor and trying culture of Kilanga, they both seek the same independence. Their husbands treat them as property, which was the custom at the time. These women were growing tired of their old lives

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.

Life isn’t black and white and this is a sentiment that the book The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver tried to express. The aforementioned book is about an American family from Georgia, which leaves the comfort of the USA to go to a missionary mission in the country of Congo, in the town of Kilanga. Throughout the novel, it can be seen how the Congo either changes or reveals the true personalities of its 5 narrators (Orleanna, Rachel, Leah, Adah and Ruth May). This can be seen through the use of different motifs, some which even contradict each other help bring life into this novel by creating complex characters and revealing how true personalities are in their own way as, state before, life is not black and white,

This novel is based on storytelling. Each girl has their own point of view of what life is like in the Congo. For, example, it was absolutely terrible for Rachel. She never wanted to be there from the start. When they first arrived in the Congo, no one wanted to be there. Certain girls changed their minds. Ruth May, for example, conformed to the Congo culture. She even made friends along the way, by playing games like “Mother May I” with the children of the Congo. Leah did not really conform to the culture. She wanted to hunt with the guys, but she still was a part of their culture. She fought for women’s rights in the Congo. Leah

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.

Throughout many novels different characters are sent to a new place to explore and find new things in life. An excellent example would be how the characters in the novel Poisonwood Bible explore a new lifestyle in the Congo. While they are there they have to learn how to adapt to a new life, and they try and teach the Congolese people how to worship the God, Jesus Christ. Even though the Congolese people may believe in different Gods, the Price family, especially Nathan feels that it is their duty to teach them different ways. Thus the poem We Grow Accustomed To The Dark by Emily Dickinson, is similar because it is talking about how people become accustomed to a different lifestyle just like the Price family did in the Poisonwood Bible. In

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

Father-daughter relationships are commonly filled with unconditional love, but an adolescent's complete devotion can be abused by an unfit parent. In Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, the devout baptist minister Nathan Price traverses the luscious African country of the Congo along with his wife Orleanna and their four daughters: Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May. One of the Price girls, Leah, is introduced as having an indescribable adoration for her disparaging dad. However, as Leah matures into a young women, Nathan's racist, misogynistic, and all-around despicable acts turn what was once an affectionate worship for her father into an unaffected scorn.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. A book that I never expected to read because of my stance on avoiding religious books, but oddly enough I could not put it down. The book is a representation of culture arrogance, racism, greed, ignorance, and imperialism that occurred through 1959 and on. The book introduces a religious, missionary family from Georgia who are headed to the village of Kilanga in Belgium Congo. What grabbed my attention in the beginning is that each member in the family, which happens to be all girls, has their turn to tell their story through their eyes, except oddly enough the overly religious evangelical Baptist father, who's only purpose is to spread the name and views of God to the Congolese.