preview

Dialectical Journal For The Poisonwood Bible

Decent Essays

Kayla Stoudt
Ms Given
World Literature
05 February 2018
Poisonwood Bible Journal Response #3 The Poisonwood Bible ultimately says a lot about storytelling. Unlike other books or novels, Kingsolver writes The Poisonwood Bible in the form of different perspectives. Instead of just reading the whole story in one point of view, it is told in a series of events by each Price sister and Orleanna. For example, Orleanna tells the story from a mothers’ view. She talks about her struggles in the Congo for her and her family. Orleanna is mostly depressed and exhausted throughout the novel, so the reader sees the story through a different point of view rather than what they would with the other characters, such as Leah, Rachel, Adah, and Ruth May. Orleanna …show more content…

The major reasoning to why the story is told like this is because of Ruth May, and what she symbolizes . In the beginning of the book, Orleanna sees an okapi in the forest, and at the end of the book she finds a wooden okapi at the market. Orleanna brings up the fact that some of her children are alive, and others are not. Ruth May is supposed to be the meaning behind the okapi, because she is no longer alive. The reason to why Orleanna finds the okapi is to show that Ruth May is still with her and her family, and always will be. The idea of the “ruin” is reworked throughout the novel in the beginning as a forest, which is described by Orleanna. Ruth May claims that she is the forest’s conscience, and that it eats itself and lives forever. It is now known that Ruth May takes over as the forest, and she may not be here in person, but will always be here in …show more content…

An allegory is something that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden message, or meaning. Nathan was sent over to the Congo from the West to do missionary work, along with his family. What Nathan doesn’t know is that everything that he does in the Congo, of which he did back in the West, is doing more harm in Africa than good. For example, Nathan makes the people at the Congo feel isolated when in reality he should be helping them. Also, Nathan tries to force the people of what is religiously right. He takes some kids into the river to be baptised, only to end up having them get attacked by alligators. He is basically unaware to the fact that Congo is doing worse with his help. I do agree with Kingsolver's conclusion that everyone is complicit because everyone in The Poisonwood Bible is very self-centered, and they all followed Nathan. While Nathan was in the Congo, his acts were not smart or helpful, and the results were disastrous. The rest of the Price family had to follow him, and do as he said because he was very controlling. Because of Nathan’s missions, it made the whole Price family viewed as responsible for all of the negative outcomes in the

Get Access