The Poisonwood Bible Analysis

Women have come a long way to fight for their representation. Before females were allowed to vote or work they were viewed as homemakers; they were their husbands’chattels. They were considered vulnerable and incapable of intelligence. Should women have to depend on the man of the family to represent their needs? Children of patriarchal societies should have the ability to learn even in college, whether they are male or female. In The Poisonwood Bible, the four daughters of the tyrannical Nathan Price are forced into a strong dictatorship and being dependent on their father to take care of them. Kingsolver writes from the perspective of the Price girls to show how they feel a lack of equality to men in America and in the Congo. The girls learn

In The Poisonwood Bible the girls express their feelings towards their father and his negative criticism. According to Nathan, “Sending a girl to college is like pouring water in your shoes [...] It’s hard to say which is worse, seeing it run out and waste the water, or seeing it hold in and wreck the shoes”(pg.56). He disproves of girls attending college because he seems to fear the knowledge they will absorb and considers it a waste of money and time. As a preacher, he has the attention of the whole congregation, members of the church go to the preacher or/pastor for understanding. Nathan clings to his authoritative power towards his daughters, wife, and the Congolese. “ Who is the master of this house?”(339), Nathan asks Leah when she disobeys her father and is prohibited from hunting with the men. As a preacher, Nathan Price thinks highly of himself and takes advantage of his position and uses The Bible to defend his domination, “[...]God has ordained that you honor thy father and submit thyself to the rules of his house”(pg 339). Any Christian knows that one of the ten commandments is to obey your mother and father. But Nathan uses that commandment to either get his family to agree with him or to make them go against their own