The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

Towards the end of ‘On the Equality of the Sexes’, Murray specifically invokes the story of Adam and Eve, a story used for centuries to depict women as the sinners, to turn the argument against itself and argue that Adam, or the men, are the real sinners in the Bible, as Adam knowingly breaks the rules while Eve was innocently deceived by the serpent. “Adam could not plead the same deception,” says Murray, “nor ought we to admire his superiour strength, or wonder at his sagacity”, implying that people overestimate the skills of men while dismissing the intellect of women as commonplace. The bigger takeaway from Murray’s invocation of Adam and Eve is that it shows the audience that she is trying to make her argument more relatable by putting gender equality in the framework of the Bible, a piece of work that was not only a religious text, but a way of life for most people in Murray’s time. By analyzing the Bible through a feminist lens and swapping the roles of Adam and Eve, Murray saved women’s reputation as the repenting sinners, but in mentioning the Bible to justify her point, Murray ultimately retreats back to the practice of relying on others’ words to make her ideas worthy of public consumption.

Throughout my selected text, Johnson focuses on the church along with the subsequent androcentric image of God, and how it impacts woman around the world. She explains that throughout history, with the help of the church’s patriarchal nature and society’s values as a whole, woman have been seen “as a ‘defective male’…that must live in obedience to her [male counterpart,]…[ and who are often also referred to as the] ‘second sex’” (Johnson 92). This

Anne Roiphe’s “Confessions of a Female Chauvinist Sow” first appeared in the magazine New York in 1972. In this essay Roiphe aims to convince her readers that women must put faith in the idea that they are equal to men, not superior. “Women who want equality must be prepared to give it and believe in it . . . .” Personal anecdotes, contrast, and comparison are techniques Roiphe skillfully uses to create a strong, convincing essay.

Women in Classical Civilization Paper Throughout history men have been leading the battles, conquering worlds, discovering new lands, but behind every good man is a good woman! So, as I read this week, I learned an enormous amount of information about the diversity of the different roles women play according to

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.

Status of Women/ Gender Equality: The Bible is controversial on the matter of gender equality. There are numerous contradictions about the status of women in Christian society. Historically, the most prominent interpretation has been rather negative toward women. The Christian Church, with principally male authority, emphasizes the idea that women are inferior to man. They focus on Eve’s sin leading to a punishment that “her husband will have authority over her.” (Drury, 34)

Feminism: the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men. Rachel Price, the oldest child of the Price family, is accustomed to taking power and does not let a soul stand in her way of what she wants. Rachel takes on an inept independence since she is the oldest child. When arriving to the Congo, her sense of feminism is portrayed through her actions. Rachel even states, “Congolese men didn’t treat their own wives and daughters as if they were very sensible or important. Though as far as I could see the wives and daughters did just about all the work” (Kingsolver 222). Throughout The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, Rachel establishes her independence from escaping the sexist wrath of her father, knowing how to manipulate the right men, and owning her own hotel.

Every little girl naturally desires to be daddy’s favorite, mimicking his every move, no matter the price. But what happens when she realizes that being daddy’s little girl may cost her life as she knows it? Imagine candidly abandoning your luxurious life in the United States only to relocate in the least modernized country known to man. In the novel titled The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, the Belgian Congo brings drastic change upon a person. There are many characters that undergo this process of change, which ultimately portrays to the reader the injustice of the world in its treatment toward the Congo. However, Leah Price consistently undergoes the most change from the beginning of the novel until the end. Throughout the novel

As once stated by Abraham Lincoln, “nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” In Barbara Kingsolver’s, The Poisonwood Bible, the static character, Nathan Price, is constantly attempting to exert power over other individuals, under the justification of his “beliefs.” Primarily, he believes that, since he is a Southern-Baptist, male, white preacher, he is dominant over both women and African-Americans. His desire for power leads to immense stubbornness on his behalf and immense animosity aimed at him by the women in his family and the African-Americans of the Belgian Congos. Throughout the course of Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, Nathan Price’s stubborn and hypocritical attitude is demonstrated, as he incessantly desires to gain power over women and African-Americans, while validating his own

Whenever someone goes to a new place, they have to adapt to their surroundings and often times it causes changes in their behaviors. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is a novel about a pastor who takes his family to the Belgian Congo on a mission to spread his Christian beliefs to the Congolese. The mother and four daughters taken to the Congo were all affected by the Congo environment, which in turn lead to changes in their psychological and moral traits. The character that is affected the most by her new environment is Leah Price. She is affected by the Congolese culture and how they do things differently from Americans. Kingsolver portrays these changes in the character to show how after one has a life-changing experience, it may

The Poisonwood Bible is a novel that near-perfectly encapsulates themes of religion, difference of cultures, language barriers, political allegories, and social justice. These concepts create a novel that holds many layers beneath its words, causing endless interpretations of these layers. Barbara Kingsolver, the author of this well-crafted story, uses these themes to create the character of Adah Price, and her obsession with one thing: balance. Adah strives to achieve balance: a state of equality with her psychological, physical, and familial state, to which she successfully achieves by accepting the positives and negatives of the current state of each.

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

Having balance is critical for gaining and maintaining a healthy life. Many dedicate their entire lives to achieving it. In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver – which tells the stories of five women as they embark on a mission trip to the Congo and follows their lives thereafter – the second youngest daughter Adah Price obsesses over balance. Late in life she reteaches herself to walk in order to be able to walk straight instead of crooked, allowing her to become physically balanced. Despite having lost her faith in her father’s God at a young age she is able to find a new God whose motivations she can understand, granting her spiritual balance. She is able to heal herself psychologically, going through mental and emotional upheaval

Virginia Woolf once iterated, “ I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.” Often, the endeavors of women in history go undocumented or discounted, hindered by either the prevailing male entities which tend to govern most enterprises or, the establishment of a structure which markedly devalues them. With a similar sentiment, in Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, the efforts of women are noted to occur without recognition from the patriarchal structure which governs the societies discussed. Towed to the Congo by the will of the father and husband, Nathan Price, Orleanna and her four daughters, Ruth May, Leah, Adah, and Rachel must struggle to survive and support Nathan, while

Feminist Laura Mulvey asserts, “woman is traditionally a use-value for man… a commodity,” which, according to Hélène Cixous, censors the “relation of woman to her sexuality… [that] gives her access to her native strength” (262; 246). In Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, Rachel “is reduced to being the servant of the militant male” in her obedient childhood and unfaithful marriages where she appears “in a familiar state of dependency upon man” (Cixous 246; Mulvey 259). However, she embraces her role as an objectified woman to subvert the authoritative masculine dictation of her life. Rachel methodically uses her physical femininity to acquire ownership of her future, prideful empowerment in her sense of self, and independence from man’s provisions on her pursuit of liberation fueled by man’s inability to control his sexual desires.