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The Poisonwood Bible Literary Analysis

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In the novel, The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, a missionary family travel to the African Congo during the 1960’s, in hopes of bringing enlightenment to the Congolese in terms of religion. The father, Nathan, believes wholeheartedly in his commitment, and this is ultimately his downfall when he fails to realize the damage that he is placing upon his family and onto the people living in Kilanga, and refuses to change the way he sees things. However, his wife, Orleanna, and her daughters, Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May, take the Congo in, and make the necessary changes in their lives, and they do this in order to survive with their new darkness that they are living in. Curiosity and acceptance help the ones with curious minds, …show more content…

Her completely refuses to believe that this is now her life. Her way of coping with the Congo is trying to cling to anything that reminds her of home. Her small hand mirror is something that she holds very dear. It is one of the first things she thinks of to grab in a life or death situation. Rachel never fully connects with any of the Congolese people, and finds it absolutely revolting about the idea that the Chief wants her as a wife. Her religious views are almost nonexistent throughout the novel, so she never comes to terms with if it is something she does or does not believe in. Besides her clinging to American civilization, she has nothing guide her through the darkness, and never even attempts to learn how to. She doesn 't let herself connect to anyone, except for the only other American in the village, Eeben Axelroot. Because of this, she cannot grow and adjust, only remain in the same spot she had when they had first arrived in the Congo. Turning away from a darkness that one does not want to face is a perfect way to stay in the same spot that you have been for your whole …show more content…

Each one of them face their own darkness, and each one of them overcome it in their own separate ways. However, they all have one thing in common, that the darkness fell upon them once they had entered the Congo and stepped foot in the village of Kilanga. For some, acceptance was their way of adjusting. Realization played a major role in the development of others. And one lonely daughter never fully accepted that she was in darkness, and clung to the smallest things she could find to stay in belief of this. Darkness is something that holds onto every life, and every life has a different way to overcome it, adjust to it, and most never fully accept that it is apart of their lives, and go on believing that everything is okay. If one does not accept that darkness is within that, surrounding them, or apart of their lives in some way, then they will always live in constant misery, whether knowing or

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A Response to Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible and the essentializing of Africa: a critical double standard? Barbara Kingsolver was not able to enter the Congo/Zaire while she was writing this book. She admits that she is relying on memories, other cultures, and others accounts of what the Congo/Zaire is like to write this book. I disagree with what William F. Purcell has to say about the use of cultures in her book.

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In the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, the Price family is living in the ever changing country of the Congo, the author seeks to make a statement on the way that colonialism affects the people of the country being colonized. Kingsolver achieves this effect by adding instances of change and people of different countries coming in and out of the country in order to add the effect of colonization. Colonization in the Congo is shown in The Poisonwood Bible in the way that Nathan rules over his family, he drags his family to the Congo and often acts as the leader and makes all the decisions for the family. Kingsolver uses this as a metaphor comparing Nathan to the European countries and the rest of the family as the Congo. Nathan asserts

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With great power comes great responsibility—even if said power was not rightfully earned to begin with. In positions of power, humanity is prone to an overexertion of force to ensure those positions are secured, vying to push them to greater heights that cannot be overtaken. In Poisonwood Bible and Things Fall Apart, these tendencies manifest into ardent displays of cruelty; within itself, cruelty becomes a defense mechanism, a coping method, a disciplinary tool, rash and injust from fear of this superiority being lost. The driving point of this cruelty is that it festers within insecurity and is fed by greed. In the novels it reflects the presence of not only patriarchal dominance, but also religious, cultural, and racial puissance.

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The Poisonwood Bible, a literary text in the Western canon, undermines colonialist ideology through its representation of the lives the Price daughters lead and the things they see and experience in the Belgian Congo, a colonized country with colonized people. Throughout the story, we see as the characters realize the desperate condition the natives are left in following the arrival of King Leopold II. To highlight the gap between the colonizers and the colonized, Kingsolver shows us the differences between Rachel’s Kinshasa, a primarily white town, and towns such as Kilanga, which are populated mostly by the natives. The former is clean and looks much like a modern-day US village. It has everything that could ever be needed and even the problems of nature do not

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