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The Poisonwood Bible Chapter Summary

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Pre-Reading Notes Major Characters Nathan Price - Father of four daughters, One of the major masculine roles in the book, Nathan is married to Orleana. He moves his family to the Congo due to his work because he is a baptist minister. He was a veteran of World War II. He is the antagonist of the book, due to his actions that he exhibits throughout the book. He creates a type of tension within the book between the other characters, he is not very friendly with the people from the Congo. Orleanna Price - Wife of Nathan Price, and a mother to four daughters. She moves to the African Congo with her husband. She is hesitant to going to the congo. She is not that excited to travel with her husband to the congo where they will start their new life. …show more content…

She is the oldest of four. Rachel is very materialistic and only cares about possessive items. She hates being in the congo and wants to go back to the United States. Leah Price - Same age as Adah, because they are twins. She acts more like a boy than a girl, and she is very smart for her age Setting When- The Poisonwood Bible takes place in a lengthy period of time. It takes place between 1959 through the late 1980’s. It lasts for 30 years. The story progresses through the interactions between the characters in the novel. Where- The Poisonwood Bible takes place in the Belgian Congo, which is located in Africa. Originally, the family had to move to the Congo from Georgia, America. Symbols Methuselah- the parrot that the Prices are given to as a gift is a symbol. It's symbolic because it has always been in a cage, then one day when its is set free into the African Congo, it dies. This symbolizes the price family’s struggle to settle into the African Congo. Methuselah could also symbolize Africa as well. When Methuselah is finally free for a short period of time, it becomes attacked. This relates to Africa, because when it is finally becoming independent, the United States attacks it, just like

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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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Her family, as she realizes the people they truly are, also change her thought process and mindset from when they lived back home in Georgia. As the Congo becomes their home, moral lessons were taught until the day the Price family departs from the Congo, but not all of them. Leah Price was introduced as a fourteen year old girl who is very intelligent and who idealizes her father, a godly man whose rules are stricter than most. The family is departing from Bethlehem, Georgia on a mission trip to Africa for a year with not much from home. Prior to the touchdown in the Congo, Kingsolver helps the reader understand Leah’s character by showing how she describes herself as the favorite and the smartest of the four girls.

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The book takes a look at each Price girl: Leah, Adah, Ruth May, Rachel, and Orleanna. Being that each one has their own personality and individuality, means that some are more reliable than others. For example, Adah is a reliable narrator and Rachel would not be considered dependent. Ruth May, brought an innocence to storytelling because of her age and the simplicity of the things she said before she passed away.

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Nathan Price is an individual who plays an important role shaping the actions, choices, and feelings of the five women. Orleanna states in the starting chapter, “[she] married a man who could never love [her]”(8) and “[she] remained his wife because it was one thing [she] was able to do each day”(8). Orleanna is very passionate about her children, which is why she holds Nathan at

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654 Words | 3 Pages

Diego Carbajal Miss Given World Literature 05 February 2018 Response Journal #3 Storytelling is an essential element in The Poisonwood Bible, it is specifically used to tell each side of one story. Using different points of views to get a various amount of opinions on an event that happened in the book. Kingsolver implements this in her book using the four girls and Orleanna. This gives the reader a vivid image of what is going on between every narrator telling their side of the story.

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The quote sets the story by revealing the guilt the Price family has as well as the underlying guilt Americans have. The Price family is very ignorant to African culture. They cannot give up their luxuries from America in order to adapt to the life of the people they are trying to minister to. Instead of embracing the culture and accepting a new way of life they bring unnecessary indulgences along with them.

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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,

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Political events that go on throughout the story represent what is happening to the Price family. In the Congo, enslavement of the Congolese people is happening to put them to work in rubber plantations. This can be seen as similar to the situation that the Price family is in because the father, Nathan, is forcing his wife and daughters to stay in the Congo with him. The Price girls do not want to be in the Congo anymore, just like the Congolese people do not want to be forced to work in rubber plantations. Also, women in the Congo are not treated that well.

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" The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet-like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a

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Through experiences of loss, trauma, and personal growth, the characters come to realize their own darkness. The quote, "My guiltiest feeling is that I've got the last diamond in my hand. But I don't know what to do with it" (Kingsolver, 512), showcases their introspection and realization of their guilt. It demonstrates their newfound awareness of the consequences of their actions and the darkness within them. Just as the loss of innocence in "Lord of the Flies" led to a profound realization, the characters in "The Poisonwood Bible" undergo a similar journey of self-realization in the face of the loss of

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The Poisonwood Bible, written in 1998 by Barbara Kingsolver, is a bestselling novel about a family led by the evangelistic Reverend Nathan Price, who in 1959 moved his family from Georgia to the village of Kilanga in the Belgian Congo. Many elements of The Poisonwood Bible allude to parallels that can be drawn in biblical texts, such as the names of the Price children, the events that happen to them, and the aptly named titles of the chapters. Kingsolver also includes alternative ways to worship in Christianity that differ from the traditional ‘organized’ way. Though the novel is packed with Christian symbolism and double-meanings, Kingsolver turns the notion of a 'bible' on its head by narrating the story solely through the eyes of five

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