Character Analysis: The Poisonwood Bible

In the words of Pauline Hopkins, “And, after all, our surroundings influence our lives and characters as much as fate, destiny, or any supernatural agency.” In the post-colonial fiction, The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, a family of six is being led blind into the Congo in the name of Jesus and left all their modern conveniences behind. There are many shifts in the daily lives and beliefs of the Price’s from the “simple” change of drinking water to the complexity of what Jesus truly means in their lives. While adapting to the new normal throughout the developing years of the Price children’s lives, the second eldest daughter, Leah Price, starts discovering who she is and how she is going to take on the task of life. By replacing each uncertain footstep on the Congolese ground with a new understanding of what life is all about, Leah’s psychological traits shift and then re-introduced through the use of colloquial diction, a theme of divine sense of acceptance, and her inner need for justice reveals who she will become as a person in the face of adversity.

Inconclusive endings can allow the reader to expand their mind beyond the story, and imagine their own ending. The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, is a novel following a missionary family in the Congo, and each chapter is written from a different member of the family’s perspective. The ending provides the reader with multiple ways to interpret the ending. One ending is more satisfactory than the other because everything comes full circle. One of Orleana’s children, Ruth May, dies tragically in Africa after surviving a terrible illness.

The novel begins with Effia Otcher being born during a village fire. Effia’s father states “... the memory of the fire that burned, then fled, would haunt him, his children, and his children’s children for as long as the line continued” (3). By saying this, Cobbe is making a connection to fire and slavery. Slavery, similar to fire, is also a force that leaves wreckage behind without any concern for those it hurts. The imagery of fire in this example is used as a metaphor for slavery and the lasting impact it has on the world.

H.L. Mencken said “The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear- fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.” The men and women of Africa during the imperialist time felt this fear constantly. Their lives were ever-changing, not because of a lack of civilization, because the white men were taking their lives over. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the tribal members are confused by the triumph of the white missionaries in their country and are fearful not of what they offer, but what they do not yet understand.

As Babar became settled in his new western lifestyle he went back for his family since they no longer had a king to lead them. During, the first week of class we viewed a Multimedia Feature from the New York Times which showed foreigners leaving their native land for what they considered a better life. It completely blows my mind how he 's comfortable living with the same people who ran his family out of their homeland and killed his mother. He even begins to dress like them and adopt their culture as

Hawthorne portrays Hester's perspective: "Hester had vainly imagined that she herself might be destined prophetess, but had long since recognized the impossibility that any mission of divine and mysterious truth should be confided to a woman stained with sin, bowed down with shame, or even burdened with a life-long sorrow" (274). The transformation of Hester being degraded to the Puritans respecting her actions is a confusing concept. It creates uncertainty of the character and the overall message of the

In Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid, the author uses thematic symbols such as “the black thing” and Annie and her mother seeing “eye to eye” to guide the reader to a position where it is clear to see that Annie and her mother do not have the same, sweet relationship they used to have. Overtime, Kincaid develops the story in such a way where it is easy to see that the relationship between Annie John and her mother begins to go downhill and is not the same as it was in the beginning of the novel. Annie clearly begins to despise her mother as she realizes that her mother is not treating her like the little girl she used to be. In this passage of Annie John, the use of “the two black things” provides a clear example of how the Annie John and her mother are very similar, yet they are never able to retain a good relationship because there is space between them.

Firstly, Hana is dealing with the grief of losing her father in the war while she was overseas being a nurse for other wounded soldiers. Her decisions are constantly influenced by her painful memories that she holds onto like her obsession with the English patient, her want to stay in a dangerous villa secluded and her falling in love with the patients. The patient reminds Hana of her father because he was also burned beyond recognition and Hana feels like she need to save this patients so she can feel better about not being near him

But in “A Mother in a Refugee Camp” there is the maternal love for the child from the mother. In “Remember” the person who is speaking is talking about death and is asking for the person they are talking to, to remember them but not if it hurts them trying to remember. “Better by far you should forget

She simultaneously loves and resents her children because, while she is their mother, she feels that they have taken away her freedom and self-purpose. As Edna journeys in her awakening, she strives to find meaning for herself as Edna, not her children's mother. To prove she is more than just a mother, she distances herself from normal motherly responsibilities. “He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it?”(Chopin, 15) Edna's neglect of her children stems from others expectations for her to submit to and look after her

Rachel Burrell Hanson English II May 20, 2016 The Poisonwood Bible Faith can be lost throughout time. In The Poisonwood Bible, this proves to be true especially in the case with Adah, Leah and their father, Nathan Price. Adah and Leah, two reliable narrators, both end the novel believing their father to be unprincipled, thus dramatically shaping the tone of the novel regarding Nathan Price. Adah starts the novel skeptical of her father and she observes his arrogance towards others, while Leah admires Nathan Price.

In Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible the Price family follows their missionary father, Nathan Price, to the Congo. Throughout the novel the children start out excited for the trip, but as time goes on they are longing to go home. Leah Price, the middle daughter, starts off ready for the journey and the new things she will learn and find and even though she is a girl from Bethlehem, Georgia she doesn’t hesitate to do anything to fit in. The surroundings, culture and people in the Congo begin to change her and she learns how to do new things and is enlightened in what she believes.

A Poisonwood Bible When describing Patrice Lumumba, Barbara Kingsolver uses complementary wording that makes the reader like him, or at least respect him. The Belgian doctor puts a cast on Ruth May’s arm on page 149 and calls Lumumba “the new soul of Africa”, which introduces Lumumba to the reader as a positive idea. When Leah sees Lumumba on pages 221-222, he’s described as “a thin, distinguished man” and that “when he stood to speak, everyone’s mouth shut... Even the birds seemed taken aback”. This portrayal makes him appear smart and scholarly and the reader is partial to him.

One of the most important lessons a person must learn is how to balance everything in their life. From relationships to jobs and all that’s in between. In the play Guys and Dolls, originally directed by Robert Alda, the lead character Nathan Detroit has trouble balancing the ways of his crap game and his fiancé, Adelaide Lament, wants to get married. The conflict that Nathan goes through is caused by Adelaide wanting to get married, it causes Nathan to lie about the crap game and it creates many other problems for other characters.

he Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver focuses on both real life and fictional events and tells the story of the Price family’s experience in the Congo. Kingsolver makes good use of foreshadowing to dramatize the tragic incidents that occur in Africa. Orleanna Price is the most reliable narrator in the novel and is used to foreshadow future events and to explain various aspects of the past. In the first chapter, Orleanna maps out all the major events that will occur throughout the book.