Sacrifice In The Poisonwood Bible

Meals in literature often represent something bigger, bringing communities together in a form of communion. However, this is not the case; in The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, the meals are ironic they help to show discord and strife among the characters of the book. She uses meals to foreshadow future events, reveal the flaws of the characters, and as the book progresses, allows for the reader to see character development. In novel, Kingsolver twists the normal connotation of a meal and makes it ironic in order to demonstrate the discord and strife that is commonplace throughout the book that shows the lack of community between the Prices and those they interact with for most of the book.

Having read, The Poisonwood Bible book, it was both fascinating and interesting. The author, Barbara Kingsolver, was quick with her diction and used quite a lot of figurative language. The objective of the book was to show the true meaning of Africa and show how it was difficult to convert the people of Africa to Christianity religion. The setting was present in Georgia, which later they traveled to a village called Kilanga in Congo, in which they started their journey. The main characters includes, Nathan Price who was the main character, his wife Orleanna Price, and their four daughters, Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May.

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.

The title, The Poisonwood Bible, is an excellent title for the plot of this book. “Tata Jesus is bangala” (331), which has two different meaning because bangala means precious and also the poisonwood tree. Reverend Price says this phrase at the end of every sermon, but he mispronounces the word bangala so that it means poisonwood tree. So the locals think he is saying “Jesus is the poisonwood tree” instead of “Jesus is precious.” This makes the title very important because it makes the Congolese not want to know God because they think He is poisonwood. Nathan never realizes that he mispronounces these words, so his version of the Bible is poisonous to the locals because of all the mispronunciations.

The Invisible Hero demonstrates a range of characterisations in high school characters. From dictators to bystanders; one character demonstrates a personality twist. While interacting with others, Ruth’s characterisation develops from victim to hero.

Orleanna says, "To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know" (385). Adah says, about her mother, "...she constantly addresses the ground under her feet. Asking forgiveness. Owning, disowning, recanting, recharting a hateful course of events to make sense of her own complicity. We all are, I suppose. Trying to invent our version of the story. All human odes are essentially one. ‘My life: what I stole from history, and how I live with it. ' (492). What does this novel ultimately say about storytelling? The Poisonwood Bible claims that, in storytelling, everyone tries to reform their own version of their life into an appealing story, talking mainly about the struggles they face in their life and “how they live with it” (Kingsolver 492). Adah claims that all stories are exactly based off of this essential element, a type of archetype that has many archetypals, but are all still considered the same thing. For example, if a war hero wrote a story on his life in WWII and another writer, a biologist, wrote a story on a Grizzly Bear. Both are different in topic, setting, characters, and plot, but both address the story of a living being that lived and faced good times and hardships along the way.

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. His way of speaking is told to us by Leah to be “rising in such a way that heaven and anger get mingled together”, which presents the reader with Lumumba’s passion and how well-spoken he is.

"If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all." Many people including some of the characters in the play are unhappy with their lives and blame all of their failures and dissatisfaction on “bad luck”. The characters in this play feel they only have bad luck so they are dissatisfied with their lives. Dissastisfaction is when you are unhappy with a situation. It can be when you can't do something that you want to do or when you can’t have what you want. The characters that are most dissatisfied in this play are Walter, Beneatha, and Ruth. Walter is unhappy with his job, his wife, and his mom. Beneatha is unhappy with her Identity. She wants to express herself by playing the guitar and becoming a doctor. Ruth is unhappy with the fact that she is having a child because then they might not have room in their home. She is also unhappy in her relationship with Walter. Finally, she does not like Walter’s drinking. Ruth has the most to be unhappy about and is the most dissatisfied character in the play.

Imagine being fourteen years old and living in a small town in Georgia, packing up as much as you can, or what could fit under your clothes and into a bag, and moving to the Congo of Africa. That’s exactly what the Price family did under their father’s will. Throughout Barbara Kingsolver 's Poisonwood Bible, Leah price experiences the Congo to its’ full potential. Both her psychological and moral traits were formed by cultural, physical, and geographical surroundings. The congolese people influence her decisions and thoughts throughout the book. 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.

Kingsolver addresses this need with her novel, creating a “thing of terrible beauty”. The Poisonwood Bible is centered around these controversial themes, luring the reader into considering the difficult topics and the various aspects of each topic that are presented. The “terrible beauty” of Kingsolver’s work is her ability to craft such an effective novel which simultaneously intrigues and creates discomfort in the audience. She does not shy away from this discomfort and attempts to diminish ignorance; throughout her novel, Kingsolver forces readers to withdraw from the comforts of their own lives and to look to places of dirt and destruction. Readers are repelled by the abrupt harshness of many chapters, from Rachel’s racist ignorance to Ruth May’s taught entitlement. At the same time, Ruth May instills hope as she plays silly children’s games with local children, and Leah’s passion for everything and everyone she loves deepens. Kingsolver writes with confidence, her “steady hands” crafting a story that ruthlessly covers painful topics in pursuit of establishing what she feels is the truth. Her novel is a thing of terrible beauty, a thing of appalling truths, a thing of loss and love and an endless amount of unknowns. Most importantly, however, it is a thing of total

In this chapter, Foster discusses the portrayal of Christ-like figures throughout literature. An allusion to Christ may include: uncanny knowledge of scripture, being good with children, being alone in the wilderness and being burdened with the task of redeeming a sinful world - all of which are traits that Nathan Price from The Poisonwood Bible exhibits or distorts. Nathan Price serves as an ironic depiction of Christ. Like Jesus, Nathan is intimately familiar with the Bible and can summon any portion of it from memory to support his arguments, such as when Anatole tells the Price family why the Kongolese people are not receptive to Nathan’s family. However, Nathan is abusive and dismissive towards anyone who disagrees with him, especially his children and wife, a perversion of

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

While reading “The Joy of Nelly Deane” by Willa Cather. Nelly is describe as the prettiest girl in town of Riverbend and she was the happiest. Nelly seems to be free spirited and three of the women in this story was hoping she would go to their church and not the Methodist church. Everyone seem to like Nelly. Nelly and her friends are in a play called “Queen Ester” they have long practices took them three months to make it right. While reading this it seems that Nelly likes to flirt and have a good time. Nelly talks about how she is going to live in Chicago and get singing lessons and doing different adventure, she tells her friend that she is engaged but does not where the ring on her finger but have it on a necklace. Nelly’s friend moved to Denver for collage but found out that Nelly was teaching sixth grade in Riverbend school when she graduated. Nelly was going to marry a person named Scott during the springtime, she decided to join a Baptist church, and she was going to be baptize. The baptize was going to take place where Nelly and her friend did their play the next day Nelly’s friend went to see her and she seem sad. Another ten years went by before her friend visited her hometown and she sadden by the news that Nelly had left them two months ago and she had a little boy and she left them three days after. Nelly seem well loved, she was full of life, and everyone

How does one live a life as a Christian that honors and glorifies God? The answer is by reflecting Christ’s image by acting as He would in every situation. Because of what Jesus has done for sinners on the cross, they desire to live by His example in order to give Him glory. However, living a Christ-like life can only happen through the work of the Holy Spirit, who comes in to sinner’s hearts when they first put their trust in Jesus and the cross, growing them and making them more like Jesus. Many characters in books, stories, and movies have Christ-like qualities and characteristics, an example of this being Harper Lee’s masterpiece. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus exhibits many Christ-like characteristics such as

All through the ages, the Christ figure archetype has appeared in literature and film. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry gives himself to Voldemort purposefully sacrificing himself for the benefit of the Wizarding World. In doing this he becomes the “Savior” and functions as a Christ figure in the novel. The Christ figure also emerges in real life, as anyone who acts as a role model and demonstrates moral fiber at an enormous cost to him or herself. In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Helen Burns serves as a Christ figure in the novel and her fundamental role is to illustrate and reveal the pivotal Christian belief of forgiveness to Jane.