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Differences In The Poisonwood Bible

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The Kikongo word nommo means “word”, it is the “force that makes things live as what they are” (Kingsolver, 209) . This is significant because this allows Adah to understand herself and her twin sister, Leah. Although they are twin sisters that have come from the same place they are in fact very different. The idea that a name creates one’s existence helps her understand why she and her twin sister are so different. Muntu can mean man [as in mankind] or people which makes no special difference between living people, dead people, and children not yet born. In other words, it’s a special kind of life force that makes us, us. With the word nommo something is not considered “alive” until it has been named, not even a child. This could be referred back to the bible in the story of Genesis, where Adam names the animals. Imagine that’s how the Price family must have felt in moving to the Congo “In the beginning we were just about in the same boat as Adam and Eve. We had to learn the names of everything” (Kingsolver, ) which was difficult to become accustomed to.
The Price sisters have very different concepts of justice. In the Poisonwood Bible, Adah expresses her belief of justice in global terms. She shows us that absolute justice like what the Westerns believed in, is impossible. For example, we believe that it is sad that babies in Africa die of malnutrition and diseases. To correct the injustice, we send over doctors to help feed and nurture these babies. In the poisonwood

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