A Mother’s Testimonial about her Change: an interview with Orleanna by a literary critic Preamble: I started from the premise that The Poisonwood Bible is a bestselling autobiography in which Orleanna describes her experiences in the Congo. Hello Orleanna. I am ¬_____, a literary critic and it’s my pleasure to have you today. We all know you wrote the autobiography The Poisonwood Bible. But before we start discussing about the novel, may I ask you, what is your background and how did you become a writer? A: Orleana’s background Short characterisation- cultural background I am a wife to Nathan, a mother to my four daughters, and a missionary to the Church. I have never thought of being a writer myself How did you view your role as a wife, …show more content…
A: What made you decide on the structure of the autobiography A: I have always considered my journey in the Congo through the biblical experiences, from the Genesis, to the Revelation, to the Judges, and so on. After all, my husband was a fierce Baptist and we lived by the laws of The Bible and I cannot escape this influence anymore. The Genesis was basically my life in the beginning --- Entering the Congo, I felt like I was Eve in the Garden of Eden- a scary garden nevertheless, where we had much to learn. Talk about symbolism of snake/serpent The green mamba snake acts as a motif throughout The Poisonwood Bible. Again, as I do view myself as a missionary, I make many allusions to the Bible throughout my autobiography and the green mamba snake is perhaps one of the most important ones. In the Bible, we often interpret the snake or the serpent as the devil or an evil object. In my autobiography, the green mamba snake is a reoccuring motif that symbolizes the serpent in The Genesis that provokes Eve to dispute God’s command of eating the fruits from the knowledge tree. Well thank you so much for coming, Orleanna. I really enjoyed having this discussion and knowing more about The Poisonwood Bible. Thank you for coming again, I hope to see you soon.