The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

This theme is self-evident in the plot development of this novel. From the development of the theme of western cultural arrogance numerous other themes can also be drawn. In this novel western cultural arrogance can be described as the arrogance of the western countries with respect to the cultures of the Congolese. This theme is portrayed throughout the novel with the characters actions towards the Congolese. Nathan Price, the dad, is the main example of the theme of western cultural arrogance with his actions and how he views the Africans religious beliefs.

The characters presented in Stephen Minot’s “Rwanda” create an air of literary sophistication within the work, mainly through means of dialogue and thought. However, other narrative modes are incorporated into the short story as well. These include exposition, action, and some description. Minot’s writing is rather simplistic in style, but literarily it is very much so sophisticated. Despite being somewhat predictable, “Rwanda” implements a variety of well-executed narrative modes that transmutes the story into a meaningful and refined piece of prose.

In many ways, the African culture and experience have an everlasting effect on Adah. The first encounter of the Price family with Africa is filled with misunderstanding and bewilderment of the culture but Adah simply observes and admires the culture. “ And so the Price family passes its judgments. All but Adah. Adah unpasses her judgements” (32).

All of us would find this topic in a way of inspirational because no matter what may be taking place, there can be an instant where the painful story that's taking place would be told and because of this story being told, changes will be made. For instance, Campbell speaks of Ismail Dalramy who lost his hands in 1996 by way of an ax. Amputation was one of many brutal tactics, as well as torture, mass rapes and looting done by the Revolutionary United Front or the (RUF). This is only just a little taste of what the African had to undergo because of the sick diamond trade. But, even so this helped bring light to what was wrong and helped more right to come out of. This book continued shedding light on the overworked but underpaid Africans in the mines. A tourist once mentioned, "The pit looked more like a slave colony". "On all sides, rib-skinny men stripped to their shorts were covered in mud and slime, the inevitable results of their jobs digging for diamonds". "Even though it was barely 10 a.m., they all looked exhausted”. This is needless to say extremely sad because there were Africans that were worked like crazy but barely getting paid, rest, or rewards. Instead there is nothing but turmoil agony and pain.

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 Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, the reader is introduced to Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, through the voices of the fictional Price women. Unlike the Price family, Patrice Lumumba was a non-fictional character who was elected and served only 7 months as the Congo’s Prime Minister. His reign was brought short by his execution in 1961. Though his tenure may have been short and occurred more than 50 years ago, Patrice Lumumba remains to this very day, an important man in history.

Since the start of the Sierra Leonean war in March of 1991, innocent civilians have been the primary target of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)’s wrath. The people of Sierra Leone have faced significant problems due to the invasions and attacks by the Rebel Forces and are the main population that is being affected by this group’s disapproval of the government. One person who experienced profound changes in her life due to the start of this war is Mariatu Kamara, a victim of a Rebel attack that cost her both her childhood and her hands. Throughout her memoir, “The Bite of the Mango,” she is faced with numerous traumatic events and meets an abundance of people who were very significant in her life and some of whom helped her survive the war. Kamara also gives the reader a variety of themes to use as a foundation to understanding war life, which also serve to help readers learn more about life, grow as people, and rise above to help others in need. Mariatu Kamara has not only changed the lives of people all throughout Sierra Leone by giving them a voice and an outlet to share their experiences, but has also proved to be an inspiration for countless amputees around the world.

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

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.

In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, the author uses the complex and contrasting societies the Price family lives in to depict how in different societies the norms and concerning issues are not at all the same. The novel begins with the Price family moving from Georgia, USA to a village in Africa called Kilanga Village. The reason for this shift was for Nathan Price, the father, to enlighten the people of Africa

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.

Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, is about a missionary family, the Prices, who move from Bethlehem, Georgia to a small village in the Congo. They choose to move during a time when there is great upheaval about to happen in the region. The reader learns about their trials and tribulations of life in the Congo through the five Price females, who talk about the events from their own the points of view. In the beginning, I thought I would not like this book; however I found that I had a hard time putting it down and ended up finishing the book quickly. There were many things Kingsolver did to make this book so appealing. From her use of dialogue and imagery, with such different character personalities, set in a historical time which gave this piece of fiction a hint of authenticity, to her underlying theme of human nature, both good and bad. It is all of these things combined which make The Poisonwood Bible a highly recommended book to read.

The Posionwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, tells the story of the Price Family. Nathan Price, the father, makes the decision to move his family in the 1960’s from America to the Congo to be missionaries. Kingsolver’s novel centers on providing the female members a chance to speak for themselves and tell their own stories. Rachel, the oldest daughter is materialistic and egotistical. In The Posionwood Bible, Rachel Price manipulates diction, tone, and selection of detail to fashion her hackneyed teenager voice, which leads to her becoming a paragon of America’s ideology throughout the book.

The Devil That Danced on the Water, a memoir written by the talented Modern World Literature author, Aminatta Forna made its debut in 2002; just in time to contribute to healing the brokenness of a society and their leftover open wounds from the aftermath of the civil war in Sierra Leone. In this analysis research paper, I will discuss how the author extends her writing to address an entire society, as well as ordinary families and individuals that have experienced the horror and corruptness that broken politics can bring upon a group of people. More narrowed, I will focus on my particular interpretation and argument of the reading; not the author’s work to honor her father by tracking down the truth, but rather her ability to use her personal experiences in a way that inspires a more hopeful, courageous, educated and independent population throughout all of the world affected by war and hate, particularly West Africa.

Lynn Nottage’s Ruined is the story of Democratic Republic of Congo. To write this play, Lynn Nottage interviewed many Congolese women who told her in plain words of the treatment they had endured at the hands of the Militias. Rape and Sexual violence were all too common occurrences in a country still ravaged by civil unrest, in an ongoing war fought over women’s bodies. “Eastern Congo,” according to U.N. special representative Margot Wallstrom, “is the rape capital of the world with 48 women being raped every hour.”(1) Rape as a weapon of war is recognized as a tactic to humiliate, dominate, instill fear in, and forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic groups. This form of sexual violence against women and girls is relied upon by government, rebel soldiers, police, criminals, civilians and even husbands. Women often seen as the bearers of the culture, as the representatives of any given community, are raped systematically as an instrumentation of open warfare, by breaking down families and destabilizing communities, children who witnessed the violence are also traumatized. Nottage in an interview with HBO news channel said: “Almost all the women I