The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

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

In this paper, I will review Charles Ryrie’s book The Holy Spirit. I will detail what I feel the book is about. I will emphasize various points given by the author that stood out to me. Finally, I will give my personal evaluation of the book.

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.

Have you ever heard that curiosity killed the cat or that greed is one of the seven deadly sins? Flannery O 'Connor and Edgar Allen Poe prove these two statements to be true. Both authors leave their readers thinking twice before they go peeking at the Christmas gifts under the tree or sneak that last piece of chocolate cake from the refrigerator. Their Catholic readers may even make a visit to a nearby confession box. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "The Cask of Amontillado" are short "dark" stories that use iconic twists that lead to their victims executions. Deception is the unmistakable underling plot in both stories with O 'Connor 's and Poe 's common use of character traits curiosity and greed-differ, ironically they both choose the most significant yet very different events in the Catholic religion; namely, life and death, to symbolize an end to a new beginning, to play out the executions of both, the Grandmother and Fortunado.

A novel about colonialism in Africa and a poem about darkness can have similar meanings? Yes, in fact Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Poisonwood Bible and Emily Dickinson's poem We Grow Accustomed to the Dark have very similar aspects when it comes to certain aspects. The Price family, specifically the Price women in Kingsolver's novel, show very similar feelings towards Kilanga as do the people about the dark in Dickinson's poem. Both writings mention that in order to overcome this obstacle, you must approach it in steps. In Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, Orleanna and the daughters become more accustomed to the lifestyle in the Congo, and going along with the writings of We Grow Accustomed to the Dark, upon arrival the Price women

In the book, Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, it presents a perfect example of a Survival of the fittest lifestyle. Only the best, the smarter, and the stronger ones, is able to survive, while the weaker individuals will be killed or dead. Lauren Olamina, the main character and her group travels towards the north by finding freedom. Many people did not have the mindset to be as strong as Lauren to survive, but she was extremely careful. She has always looked out for potential enemies wanting to harm or kill, but she was also creating allies to build her Earthseed community.

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 story The House of the Scorpion, written by Nancy Farmer, the main character is Matt, who is a clone of El Patron. The main setting of the story is in the Mexican area in the future. In the beginning of the story, Matt only knows one other person and only one person knows about him, that person is Celia. The main problem in the story is that when Matt finally gets exposed to other people, he finds out he’s a clone and also finds out that most people despise of clones. The solution is that during El Patron’s funeral, everyone with some sort of power dies with the wine that El Patron demanded they’d drink when he dies. At the end of the story, Matt is technically not a clone anymore, because El Patron is dead.

The novel written by Barbara Kingsolver, Poisonwood Bible, serves to prove that the roles of women in the 1960s regardless of their background were imposed upon than the roles of men. These women did not have equal opportunity to excel throughout the Congo as they were to serve their husbands only. It was considered to be out of bound if a women tried to attain an education, as well as expressing themselves.

Everyone needs friends who they can trust and rely on to always have their back. The House of the Scorpion is a dystopian fiction novel written by Nancy Farmer, is about a clone, named Matt, of the powerful drug lord, El Patron. When he is brought into a world ruled by El Patron, he is hated by everyone in the big house, except for a sweet girl named Maria, who lightens Matt’s day with just her presence, his bodyguard who becomes more like his father, and Celia, the woman who has taken care of Matt since he was made into a clone. He learns what it is like to live in a world full of social hierarchy and in his adventure he goes from the top to the bottom and everywhere in between. He is constantly being judged on who he is and is learning more about his identity, though mostly learns about love and loyalty . In this adventure of The House of the Scorpions, Matt finds that loyalty with friends is one of the most important things to have. Farmer shows many aspects that point to this theme.

The Demon’s Parchment, by Jeri Westerson, follows private investigator Crispin Guest and his apprentice Jack as they investigate a series of mysterious murders in 1350s England. The historical setting of the book references the Medieval Period of Europe, a dark age filled with superstition, disease, and political overturn. Westerson’s setting incorporates elements of religion and politics, offering a view of Medieval England from Guest’s perspective; the narrative also does a thorough job accurately describing the breadth and depth of the Christian-Jewish hostility of the era, as well as portraying the enormous role of the English Church in everyday life.

When people reach a certain age they start finding a place in the world that fits them the best. Kids start associating themselves with people just like them or similar to them. However sometimes those people are not around growing up or the kids have yet to reach their true self. In the book Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, the protagonist Geryon, is a unique type of person that is trying to do just that. Geryon is a red, winged dragon; throughout the book he learns more about himself and how to become his authentic self. While it may seem easy for the readers to identify Geryon as a red winged mythical beast, he himself does not know who he is and works through a hard life looking for the answer to that question. Geryon grows and reaches his authentic identity by dealing with old flame Herakles, meeting teachers who help him along the way, and learning from Ancash a new perspective of himself.

The Poisonwood Bible written by Barbara Kingsolver goes over a variety of topics which raise curiosity to readers. As time progresses, readers grow their understanding of the different themes and perspectives in each book. However, the theme of Femininity and Womanhood stands out to me since the beginning, as it expresses major differences with men and women.

The poison tree the author speaks about the containment of emotion.The author is angry at his friend but forgives him so his anger ends.”I was angry with my friend:I told my wrath, my wrath did end.”(Blake)."I was angry with my foe:I told it not, my wrath did grow."(Blake)The author gets angry with his enemy but doesn't tell him so it doesn't end , and grows into a tree.The tree then produces a fruit, “Till it bore an apple bright.”(Blake)The enemy steals the apple, and eats it.The foe who ate the apple lies died under the tree of poison “My foe outstretched beneath the tree.” (Blake) .This poem main theme is the containment of emotions.William Blake uses tone,metaphors,and other literary devices to express the theme of emotions in his poem.