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Analysis Of The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

589 Words3 Pages

In the novel, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, she uses the contrasts between America and the Congo to show how the pressures of living in the different environments effected the Price family and the choices they made about their future. After the Price family moved from America to the Congo, they experienced many struggles while trying to adapt to their new surroundings in Congo and introduce Christianity to the villagers. Adapting was difficult for them because they went into the Congo with American thoughts, ideals and materials that they thought were necessary, such as Rachel’s hand mirror and cake mix, which Leah later realizes that their “supplies from home seem to represent a bygone world” (14). Their life in America was very luxurious compared to Congo. In America, they owned cars, television, and decent …show more content…

Unlike the villagers that have housing made of tin and any random pieces of metal, and often times limited resources for food and water. The villagers of the Congo lived a life of poverty with no way to become something greater than they were. If you were born poor, you would be poor for the rest of your life, unlike America where there are many opportunities to achieve the “American Dream”. The Prices not only faced challenges with domestic life, but their religion. The villagers’ religion was very different from Christianity. Christianity is based on God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but the villagers’ version of religion consisted of earthly gods and sacrifices to the earth. Nathan’s mission was to convert all of Congo, have them baptized in a river—supposedly filled with crocodiles—and convert them to Christianity. The villagers and Nathan

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The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver: Literary Analysis

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The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver takes place in the early 1960’s and follows the Price family on their missionary trip to Kilanga, a village located in Congo, Africa. With their overzealous father, a devout preacher, as their leader, the Price family soon begins to fall apart as a result of their inability to cope with life in the Congo and their own over imposing social standards. Kingsolver particularly uses Nathan Price, and the political insurgence in Kilanga as the main literary elements to portray the social and political issues of the Western urge for dominance and exploitation of the third world. Kingsolver primarily uses Nathan Price’s disdain and unawareness for Kilanga’s customs and religious mindset as a symbol for Western

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In the Poisonwood Bible, Nathan, much like many real missionaries of this era, believed that it was their duty to civilize the uncivilized, in this case, their Kilanga neighbors. Orleanna believed that the Kilanga people survived on their own before, and should be able to keep some of their culture, however, Nathan is more persistent in making them no longer savage and now Christian and proper. The Poisonwood bible is a story of a Christian family traveling to Kilanga to baptize and civilize the people there. The story is told by the daughters and wife of Nathan Price who, for the most part, have differing views. Nathan, much like many real missionaries of this era, believed that it was his duty to civilize the uncivilized, in this case, their Kilanga neighbors.

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Sometimes, personality can be perpetual. Even faced with the most adverse surroundings, a teenager’s character can remain virtually unaffected. Rachel Price, the eldest Price sister, experiences almost no change over the course of The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver. Characterized as an ignorant, superficial, “ditzy blonde”, Rachel makes no attempts to assimilate or adapt to the customs of Kilanga, frequently enjoying luxury and leisure at the expense of the villagers’ hard work. Rachel’s persona is perfectly captured in the nsongonya ants attack, where she simply decides to “stick out [her] elbows and raise up [her] feet,” and be carried in the stream of fleeing villagers, despite jabbing her elbows “very hard into the ribs” of the villagers carrying her (305).

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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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