Poisonwood Bible Essay

The Poisonwood Bible is a novel written by Barbara Kingsolver that takes place in 1950’s New Orleans and the Congo of Africa. This story written in 1998 in reflection of imperialism, The Poisonwood Bible, is a political allegory. The Price family is the center of attention, each member having a specific role in the story as well as the political allegory about the imperialism and colonization of the Congo and other third world countries of the time. The mother Orleanna is an intellectual women for her time, the 50’s where women were supposed to be obedient to their husbands, and has a distinct voice. Barbara Kingsolver creates a specific voice for Orleanna Price to serve the purpose of being the advisory

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.

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.

Orleanna, mother of the Price family, is constructed to have a very reflective point of view. In the beginning of each of Orleanna’s chapters, she reflects on what has happened in Africa and the experience her family has gone through. The maturity in which her sentences are structured, her syntax and diction as well as the frequent rhetorical questions she asks give the impression that her passages not only give a perspective

Kingsolver begins the novel with intense, vivid imagery, allowing the reader to fully engulfed in the environment, questioning where such a place exists. Kingsolver’s use of magical realism intertwines reality with fiction as she constructs the setting of the wild Congo. “Every space is filled with life: delicate, poisonous frogs war painted like skeletons, clutched in copulation, secreting their precious eggs onto dripping leaves” (1). Rich literature is woven into every sentence, loaded with foreshadowing and symbolism that the reader can only truly comprehend when the novel is over. The idiosyncratic character of the first opening pages continued to draw the reader back. Every time the opening is read again it had a different meaning depending on where the reader is in the book, and what connections have been are made.

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.

Nathan Price’s real goal for going to the Congo was to baptize all the villagers in the area. This, however, was relentlessly being opposed by many villagers because of the incident where a crocodile ate a young girl in the same river Nathan was going to baptize the people in. Although opposed, Nathan remained unwavering in his goals. This causes many villagers to hate him and change their opinion of him, his family, and

As a young teenager graduating high school, Leymah Gbowee had an unwavering faith in God and a bright outlook on life. Gbowee believed God heard all of her prayers and would grant all of her wishes:, “A feeling of safety enveloped me. God was good. I knew He heard all my prayers” (Gbowee 3). As the war started to reach near Gbowee’s hometown, she started to witness the true horrors that were being done to the people of Liberia. Fear overtook her life as she beheld all the destruction and death, and her belief in God diminished with each day. “ I was afraid, especially at night, but I also got more angry. They say God responds to our prayers but

Barbara Kingsolver takes an interesting approach to voice and perspective while writing The Poisonwood Bible. The book is divided by narration, switching from Ruth May, Leah, Adah, Rachel, and Orleanna. The different perspectives allow Kingsolver to compare and contrast the book’s main characters. Through this design, the reader learns more about the situations because they receive a more well-rounded view of the entire story. Kingsolver differentiates between the four sisters through their individual voices, revealing specific character traits and differing reactions to their life in Africa.

In the novel The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver an American family seeks to change the Congo through the use of their Baptist faith. While in truth the father Nathan Price sets out to change the world and ends up dragging his wife and four daughters along for the ride. His family supported his mission on changing the Congo in the beginning, but his second daughter would be the one to support him long after his plan began to falter. Leah Price would follow Nathan anywhere he wished to direct her until she realized that maybe it was her that need to direct herself. Through the development of Leah Price and her new found independence and loss of respect for her father, Kingsolver shows that the arrogance of preconceived ideas of one body of people can cause one to overlook

The clash of the West and Africa entails foreign situations that society must face. The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver reflects on the impact of foreign situations on how it molds the way a society develops. In the novel, children are led by the missionary father, Nathan into the Congo, where they face the task of conversion. A molding of society is evident with the Price children, in their faith and their attitudes toward the Congolese. The way each child faces their faith is distinct and molds the person they will become. This sense of identity is impacted by the father and his obsession with God and the oppression of the Congo, creating an evident “evil” the children must overcome. Universally, in any situation people face, their faith evolves and changes the way they

African Congo impacts Leah in ways only one could imagine. Leah’s character sifts through life

The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbra Kingsolver, draws the reader into the chaotic African Congo, where the Price family is dragged into on a mission of God, to help the unsaved souls of this “wasteland”. Leader of the missionary family, Nathan Price is a man who is bent on eternal salvation for all the people of the Congo –whether they want it or not– and will not quit in his mission, regardless the consequences. Price is a volatile man, as Kingsolver points out by Nathans’ religious fervor, apparent sexist attitude, and belligerent nature.

Ruth May Price, the youngest of the Price children, has no real perception of religion because she is so young, but her father scares her enough to follow along with it. Ruth May says, “I told Leah that means the new soul of Africa, and he’s gone to jail and Jesus is real mad about it (Kingsolver 124),” when talking about the elected official, Patrice Lumumba. Patrice Lumumba often spoke of the gospel, so Nathan supported him, which in turn means that his opinion has an impression on Ruth May; although she doesn’t necessarily knows what that means herself, the fear of getting beat is greater than the urge to understand between what is right and what is wrong. One of the middle children, Adah, has a different opinion. Because the left

In The Poisonwood Bible, symbolism is widely explored to allude to and explore ideas in a nonliteral sense, Methuselah, a parrot left behind and adopted by the Price family, is an example of this. Throughout the novel, his role as a symbol of the Congo is examined.