What Are The Similarities Between Things Fall Apart And The Poisonwood Bible

In both novels, Things Fall Apart and The Poisonwood Bible, there are often many devices used to further the depth of each story. Within these stories, one of the devices used to engage the reader is symbols, which can be used to provide references to outside sources, and in more specific terms, provide biblical references constantly throughout both stories. With this in mind, there are a few specific symbols in The Poisonwood Bible, such as, Methuselah the Parrot, the murderous snake that kills Ruth May. In conjunction with these symbols, fire in Things Fall Apart, has a large role to play with Okonkwo's actions and deserves the attention of the reader.

Starting off with The Poisonwood Bible, the protagonists of the story inherit a parrot

The snake itself is an embodiment of sin, or in a biblical sense, the devil himself. This novel has outright biblical references strewn throughout its entirety. There are constant ties to it through its characters names and scenarios that take place, in this section where Ruth May is bitten by a snake and dies, the snake is a representation of sin, and the sin that plagued Ruth May until she was overcome by it, and in this case experienced physical death. Within Genesis in the King James version of the bible, we are met with the classic story of Adam and Eve, where Eve is met by a serpent in the garden who tempts her to take a bite of an apple from the tree of knowledge. In the same sense that Eve was coerced by the devil, in this case in the form of a serpent, to bite the fruit, a process in which would start the possibility of spiritual death, Ruth May was bitten by the snake, which would start the possibility of physical death. What ties all this together is Nathan’s reaction to the death of Ruth May, rather than being sad that she had passed away, Nathan was stuck on the fact that Ruth May had yet to be baptised. He honed in on more of the idea that her soul would not be saved because she had not been properly cleansed of her sins, and

Fire is often considered to be difficult to control, and this is true of Okonkwo, he has an extreme driving force as to not be portrayed as weak by his comrades. Within the novel, Okonkwo has even received the nickname of The Roaring Fire, not only do we recognise this as a reader, but the people of his tribe recognise it as well. When Okonkwo is instructed to execute the child he had been harboring, Ikemefuna, he shows no mercy. He struck down the child without hesitation and without remorse, such as a fire can envelope another log placed within its reach. The final piece of evidence of Okonkwo being a symbol of raging fire, is his death. Many times when a fire is burning, without any outside assistance, it can burn itself out, and as in the story, once Okonkwo realised that there was no more allegiance to him in his tribe, or no more fuel for his fire, he burned himself