Summary Of The Poisonwood Bible

The Poisonwood Bible is an adventurous tale of an American family settling in Congo, Africa for a mission to spread their Christian faith. The family member in charge of the mission is Nathan Price, a Baptist preacher. It is a story of the effects of culpability on people’s lives. The characters develop and drastically change throughout the story because of their experiences of living in the Congo. It is a dangerous place where “the land owns the people” (Kingsolver 283). Leah, the tomboyish daughter of Nathan Price, is an excellent example. She matures through her experiences with religion, meeting new people in the Congo, and the death of a beloved sister. To start off, Leah has vast knowledge of the Bible due to her father being a preacher. She is usually forced to read and write verses from the Bible as a punishment from her father. Despite harsh treatments, she once venerated him. Her father uses God as a way to teach life lessons. He would ask questions to her, such as: “Why do you think the Lord gave us seeds to grow, instead of just having our dinner just spring up out there on the ground like a bunch of field rocks?” (Kingsolver 36). The answer is that “the Lord helps those that help themselves” (Kingsolver 37). This meant that God wanted people to

Her greatest influence was Anatole, a school teacher. Anatole typically referred to her as “Beene” which meant “to be truer than truth” (Kingsolver 287). He once said to her: “Beene, if you were more like everybody else, you would not be so beene-beene” (Kingsolver 285). Anatole was trying to advocate Leah to be true to herself and to not follow the paths of others. Leah eventually fell in love with Anatole, which was the main reason she stayed in Africa. She was regretful for not being an African. She was considered the “un-missionary” (Kingsolver 525). Her role was to change the lifestyle of others; however, she changed herself