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Essay on The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The poisonwood bible analysis
Essay on The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
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In the novel, there are many similarities and differences between Amari’s village and the plantation. There are many similarities between Amari’s village and the plantation. A similarity is there are Africans in both places. They also grow crops in both places. She has people
Imagine being fourteen years old and living in a small town in Georgia, packing up as much as you can, or what could fit under your clothes and into a bag, and moving to the Congo of Africa. That’s exactly what the Price family did under their father’s will. Throughout Barbara Kingsolver 's Poisonwood Bible, Leah price experiences the Congo to its’ full potential. Both her psychological and moral traits were formed by cultural, physical, and geographical surroundings. The congolese people influence her decisions and thoughts throughout the book.
The title, The Poisonwood Bible, is an excellent title for the plot of this book. “Tata Jesus is bangala” (331), which has two different meaning because bangala means precious and also the poisonwood tree. Reverend Price says this phrase at the end of every sermon, but he mispronounces the word bangala so that it means poisonwood tree. So the locals think he is saying “Jesus is the poisonwood tree” instead of “Jesus is precious.” This makes the title very important because it makes the Congolese not want to know God because they think He is poisonwood.
Adah Price is the disabled daughter of Nathan and Orleanna Price in the novel “The Poisonwood Bible”, she knows the benefits and struggles from the form of exile she experiences. Adah has dealt with alienation from the moment she was born and her disability was first discovered. Throughout the novel we witness Adah’s disorder and how it affects her and her family's life both in positive and negative ways. With all of Adah’s struggles we see her exiled from her family, her home, and even herself.
This further expands on the meaning by showing the contrast of how little the Congolese care for others’ appearances when compared to the American view. The Congolese shared their view on appearances near the beginning of the novel when describing Mama Mwanza and Mama Nguza. The Americans think Orleanna became tainted while she was in the Congo. Even though Orleanna used to live in Bethlehem, the other residents of the town don’t view her the same way as they did before she went to the Congo. Adah even commented on their reception: “...welcome home the pitiful Prices!
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,
Spending a generous amount of time in the heart of the African Congo is bound to change an American family. After spending over a year in the small Congolese village of Kilango, the Price family comes to terms with the fact that they cannot leave Africa without being changed by it, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Living in the Congo at a time when their race was doing all in their power to Westernize Africa, the Price women left Kilanga feeling immense guilt for being a part of this unjust manipulation of the African people. By the end of the novel, all of the Price women leave with the task of reconciling the wrongs they have committed and learning to live with the scars of their mistakes. Kingsolver showcases the moral reassessments
Henry Fisher Mrs. Hillesland AP English 11 11 December 2015 Strength in Numbers Skilled writers take different approaches in their narration to accurately convey their message. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, is a novel about the Prices, a religious family who moves from Georgia a village in the Congo. Their story, which parallels the western appearance into our current era, is told through multiple narrators: Orleanna—Nathan Price 's wife, and their four daughters--Rachel, Leah, Adah, Ruth May. Kingsolver wrote her novel through the eyes of the five Price women to constitute a parallel between the unrest in the Congo, and the Price family who is abused by Nathan. Therefore, he represents the western exploitation of Africa and
Eatonville is a place of repression, what with how Janie worked in the shop, and how gossip ran rampant through the town if deliberation occurred. Eatonville is not a negative and antagonistic place, but simply a place of high standards, which did not suit the independent nature of Janie Crawford. Opposing this place, the rural location known as “The Muck” has almost entirely different motifs. The Everglades was home to farmers and common workmen, not the high-class citizens of Eatonville. People were also free to come as they were, and be treated equally.
Aunt Alexandra hosts a tea party for the ladies in the missionary circle to discuss various topics. The main topic that the ladies discuss is J. Grimes Everet and the work he is doing with an African tribe called the Mrunas. The women, especially Mrs. Merriweather, all praise J. Grimes Everet for all he does claiming that, “Not a white person’ll go near ’em but that saintly J. Grimes Everet” (309). These women are all very supportive of him helping a tribe that is halfway across the world in Africa that they decide they want to help. Although, these women praise what he does and want to help people over in Africa,they are repelled by the idea of even being associated with the African Americans there in Maycomb.
In fact, with all their differences, the three regions later combined to create the great nation known today as the United States. One of the big differences between the three regions was their topography and climate, which led to different types of agriculture. For instance, the New England Colonies had many mountains and forests due to its glaciers. Since it had sandy soil, short summers and long lasting winters, the Puritans who landed in New England weren’t able to farm many types of crops. The cold weather negatively impacted their agriculture.
When two different worlds joined together, one was almost demolished (Nunn, Qian). The introduction of new plants, new animals, and new ways of production negatively affected the methods of food production and the lands of America. First of all, the English colonists came to settle down on the American land, some seeking religious freedom, others sent as indentured servants, and others to seeking to obtain profit from the new land (Mintz, McNeil). These permanent settlements reshaped the land according to the ideal styles of European agriculture (Mintz, McNeil). In order to efficiently make profit out of farming and selling, the Europeans made plantations for cash crops like tobacco and sugar (Nunn, Qian).
In many ways the Congo changes the young fourteen-year-old girl into a strong independent woman. There are many encounters in the novel where she starts to question her faith in God as well as in her father. For example, hearing stories about rubber plantation workers getting their hands chopped off because they were not able to get the desired about of rubber startles Leah and makes her question race relations. Race becomes a dominant issue at this point and her experiences in Kilanga have invalidated all she had been taught about race in America. At this point, Leah starts to go on her own and figure out whom she is.
But one in common was the living off the fat of the land, owning their own ranch and getting to tell others what to do instead of being the ones that have to do the work. The two of them want the feeling of independence. Which is “the american way of life” since the story is set in the 1930’s. Right when the great depression struck and the dust bowl was striking many families across the us. When they first got to the farm they met a whole load of different people.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is undoubtedly one of the greatest books of the twentieth century. Centered in the Great Depression era in the Deep South, two siblings -and a summertime friend- explore the state of society, what it means to be just, and what real courage is. Among the myriad of themes the author enforces, those of racism, prejudice, courage, fear, justice, hypocrisy, and perspective are best expressed. Lee illustrates the theme of (hidden) fear in To Kill A Mockingbird through the children’s behavior when in ‘adult’ situations as well as with Boo Radley, the testimonies of Tom and Mayella in the court case, and Bob Ewell’s threats on Atticus and Helen Robinson.
