ipl-logo

Symbolism In The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

1494 Words6 Pages

After I have read the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I realized that there were multiple different symbols that helped convey complex ideas. For me I have found that in the Novel there are three important symbols that help shape the plot of the story and these are Methuselah the Parrot, Palindromes: Which is Ada’s journal, and lastly the green Mamba snake that killed Ruth May. The significance about all of these symbols is that they tend to add a meaning and depth to the story. After all I feel like the most important symbol out of all of these is Methuselah the parrot. Methuselah is a parrot who was left by Brother Fowles and he serves as a symbol for the republic of Congo. He was then later on given to the Price Family and kept as a pet. Throughout Methuselah life he was not given freedom at all which resulted into him relying on the Price family for most of his needs. Even after Nathan Price set him free, Methuselah still decided to stay close to their …show more content…

Adah is saying that to make her father pleased even though most of the statements that he says to the people of Kilanga are wrong. The best example to show that Nathan was trying to get himself killed in which his wife and the Price girls try to save him is when He was told by his family that everyone in Kilanga is afraid of baptism because there are crocodiles in the river. In the end when a child really did get eaten by a crocodile, some angry villagers then decided to chase him and kill him as he got blamed for killing most of the innocent children in the village of Kilanga. In this example we saw how Nathan is trying to convince all of the people of Kilanga to baptize themselves in the river which didn’t work out

Show More
Related
324 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
835 Words | 4 Pages

Bearing Guiltiness within The Poisonwood Bible Foreshadowing is a literary device many authors use to hint at future events containing influential and thematic material; and authors tend to introduce their major themes through foreshadowing in opening scenes or a prologue. Barbra Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, follows this very trend. Orleanna Price, in the first chapter, describes her burden of guilt toward choices she has made and the death of the youngest of her four daughters, Ruth May. Throughout the story, you discover the guilt within each of the five women: Adah, Leah, Rachel, Orleanna, and Ruth May. Due to supporting implications within the opening chapter of The Poisonwood Bible, with continuing evidence throughout the novel, it can be concluded that guiltiness is a motif.

Read More
381 Words | 2 Pages

Growing up leads to the corruption of innocence is the theme in the novel "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. Innocence is something everyone has but eventually loses. Not knowing the problems of the world is an example of innocence. Another example of innocence is never doing wrong or never sinning. An example of this is in "The Poisonwood Bible".

Read More
1847 Words | 8 Pages

Her twin sister, Adah, even labeled Leah as Nathan’s “star pupil” in regards to her knowledge in the Bible. This helps to show the commitment Leah had to Nathan’s judgement and conservative ideals that marked those of the Congo as rotten and sinful in the eyes of God. Due to her dedication and choice to follow the ideas and footsteps of her father, Leah was unable to see the Congolese

Read More
749 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
843 Words | 4 Pages

Another example of usage of symbolism in this book would be Alcohol. Alcohol is used as a symbol to convey a deeper meaning. Alcohol in this novel symbolizes that many of the characters face problems and obstacles that are very difficult, but they don’t really face them head-on. They try to escape from their problems in many ways, and the main one is alcohol. The characters are having tough times in their lives, where they really don’t know what to do and how to handle their obstacles or setbacks to be happy.

Read More
224 Words | 1 Pages

In the story "Flowering Judas" by Katherine Anne Potter she displays an immense amount of symbolism throughout the story not only through color but also through the characters appearances. Additionally she symbolizes when she begins to describe Braggioni and his weight saying that his fat bulges out of his shirt and how he wore expensive clothing, she does that to show his wealth and the power that he holds but also to show how the power has corrupted him. Furthermore she continues to point out his clothing and the colors his purple necktie, his black leather belt, the lavender collar also the flashy silver represents a man of wealth and of high stature like royalty but if you look closer there happens to be a deeper meaning Braggioni

Read More
1160 Words | 5 Pages

Orleanna says, "To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know" (385). Adah says, about her mother, "... she constantly addresses the ground under her feet. Asking forgiveness. Owning, disowning, recanting, recharting a hateful course of events to make sense of her own complicity.

Read More
787 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout “Things Fall Apart” and “The Poisonwood Bible” symbolism is shown with objects, characters, and places. The use of symbolism helps the reader to understand theme and what the author is portraying. In both books Kingsolver and Achebe use items to show the meaning of something or to get a point across. Both books use many items with symbolism attached to them with a couple from “Things Fall Apart” being the drums and The Mother of the Spirits.

Read More
1017 Words | 5 Pages

In the words of Pauline Hopkins, “And, after all, our surroundings influence our lives and characters as much as fate, destiny, or any supernatural agency.” In the post-colonial fiction, The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, a family of six is being led blind into the Congo in the name of Jesus and left all their modern conveniences behind. There are many shifts in the daily lives and beliefs of the Price’s from the “simple” change of drinking water to the complexity of what Jesus truly means in their lives. While adapting to the new normal throughout the developing years of the Price children’s lives, the second eldest daughter, Leah Price, starts discovering who she is and how she is going to take on the task of life. By replacing each uncertain footstep on the Congolese ground with a new understanding of what life is all about, Leah’s psychological traits shift and then re-introduced through the use of colloquial diction, a theme of divine sense of acceptance, and her inner need for justice reveals who she will become as a person in the face of adversity.

Read More
985 Words | 4 Pages

One of the three main symbols used were the grandmothers clothing. This was shown by in the beginning she cared solely about how others saw her whereas towards the end she didn't care for her apparel and truly on cared for finding grace and redemption. Another main symbol used was the weather. The weather in the story started off with no clouds and no sun during the day and ended clear with no clouds showing that the grandmother, in the end, was able to find grace and redemption through a tough time. The last main symbol shown in the story by Flannery O'Connor was Bailey's shirt.

Read More
1359 Words | 6 Pages

The function of these symbols in the story play a pivotal role in how the reader perceives the characters and also how the theme of knowledge influences the nature

Read More
625 Words | 3 Pages

In the tragedy of King Lear, Shakespeare emphasizes the importance of symbols through his usage of a poisonous serpent, specifically the poison Cordelia introduces into the family. Similarly, in the historical text, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster illustrates the concept of symbolism, specifically in Chapter 5, “Is That A Symbol?”, when he suggests that symbols often possess multiple general meanings and a vary from one reader to another reader. Likewise, the poison Lear speaks of in Act I carries throughout the remainder of the tragedy, often exhibited as Lear’s pain or the ruined relationships with his child caused when Cordelia travels away from the kingdom. In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster depicts

Read More
802 Words | 4 Pages

Angel Zuleta Intro to Literature The Birth Mark 1. How does the narrator feel about the protagonist? List two details and explain how those details support your own opinion. I believe the narrator views Aylmer as a very smart scientist but also as an ignorant man.

Read More
656 Words | 3 Pages

“Listen to your heart” is a very well known quote, there is even a song about it, however overtime one takes it literarily there seems to be a good and a bad outcome to the decision. This is what happens in the story “The Skating Party” by Merna Summers, it is told by Maida the niece of the main character Uncle Nathan. He tells her about his past life and the decisions he made with his heart, or wished he did, and how they brought him to his present life. By Examining Uncle Nathan’s actions, thoughts and words it is clear there are positive and negative ramifications for following ones heart. Uncle Nathan proves he follows his heart through his actions by saving Delia, destroying the stone man and marrying Eunice.

Read More

More about Symbolism In The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

Related Topics

Open Document