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Survival In Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible

956 Words4 Pages

Imagine traveling to a foreign country on a mission trip with your 4 children and husband. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? What about being forced to drag yourself and 4 children on a perilous trek at the command of an overzealous, religion obsessed husband to the African Congo in hopes of “saving” a community from their “wrong” way of living? In Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, a missionary family, ruled by an extremely opinionated and controlling husband, moves from their acquainted home in Bethlehem, Georgia to the poverty-stricken village of Kilanga in the Belgian Congo. As the family gathered and packed their most essential items needed for survival in a territory where they were not wanted, the thought of never returning flooded …show more content…

Rachel's only concern when first arriving in the Congo was her hair and personal items. As the novel progresses, Rachel finds herself desperate to survive rather than choosing which hair brush she was going to use that day. She was extremely self-centered and even related to the bible, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (The Holy Bible, New International Version). As her father, Nathan Price, continues to preach the word of the almighty God to the citizens of the Congo, Rachel begins to take on household duties along with forming her own opinions of this new foreign land because her view of religion isn’t as strong as her father’s.With the need to survive, Rachel accommodates to her surroundings in order to grow and flourish independently despite her high maintenance attitude. The culture of the Congo was one that Rachel had never experienced before. Being as narrow-minded and superficial as she was, at first everything about the African culture was a disgrace to her. “Man oh Man, are we in for it now”(Kingsolver,22), were Rachel's

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Poisonwood Bible Analysis

854 Words | 4 Pages

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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Throughout one’s life, many circumstances take place that will change the individual forever. In Contending Forces, written by Pauline Hopkins, the author states, “And, after all, our surroundings influence our lives and characters as much as fate, destiny or any supernatural agency.” The character of Orleanna Price in The Poisonwood Bible undergoes sharp changes throughout her journey from a quiet home in Bethlehem, Georgia to the new, unpredictable environment of the Congo. Orleanna alters from a woman who involves herself in the Georgian church community frequently to a woman whose only concern is surviving dangerous and chaotic events the African Congo beholds. Her character’s feelings toward her husband, Nathan Price, wane in terms of

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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.

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Pain, both physical and mental, affects every character in The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. However, the biggest loss, which is that of the Price family’s youngest child, Ruth May’s, life also brings about some positive effects as well. Here, similarly to in Twelfth Night, a person is sacrificed for the greater good. Naturally, it may be more difficult to imagine the benefit of Ruth May’s sacrifice than to imagine the benefits of Viola’s, but if given adequate thought, it becomes clear that the death of Ruth May helps the other women in the Price family to realize Nathan Price’s destructive ways. Kingsolver first exposes Leah Price’s newfound argumentative and bold personality, and her opposition towards her father in the following exchange, “”She wasn’t baptized yet,” he said.

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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!

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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

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Set deep in the dense forests of Congo and in the heart of African culture, The Poisonwood Bible presents a story of the Price family and their revelations on confronting a different culture. In The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver presents the theme that women must overcome the naturally forming barriers that are created as a result of societal norms. The female characters of The Poisonwood Bible are oppressed by not only the rules of society but the chauvinistic and supercilious ways of the male, Nathan Price. Orleanna and Leah demonstrate the importance of making life altering choices in order to redeem themselves. Kingsolver demonstrates that by overcoming the barriers of societal and personal expectations, women are able to be empowered.

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