The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver, born in 1955, grew up in Kentucky and lived in many different countries such as : England, France, and Canary Islands. She attended Debauw University and University of Arizona where she earned a biology degree. Kingsolver now is a beloved author of eleven books and has been named the most important author of the twentieth century and has had the honor of receiving the National Humanities medal in 2000. In 1998 she wrote “The Poisonwood Bible” and was short-listed for the pulitzer prize. Kingsolver now resides in Southwestern Virginia with her daughters and husband on a farm.

Often, the things people consider to be valuable have the ability to influence them. For instance, one who values their family is likely to base important life decisions on the impact they would have on his or her relatives. People who value money are known to engage in risky behaviors, such as gambling, in hopes of making a profit. The books we read can have this same power. Books that have value, or merit, are not only able to entertain but also leave the reader thinking about the issues the book discusses long after they've set it down. These pieces of literature leave a lasting impression on their audience for both their artistic storytelling and the impacting message they leave behind. Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Poisonwood Bible displays

Barbara Kingsolver has been writing books since 1988 and has written over 12 books. She has won the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year award for her literary work on The Poisonwood Bible. The setting of the book takes place in the Congo around the 1960’s. The family in the book is a missionary family that has just moved from the United States to the Congo, and they are adjusting themselves to this new environment. One character that shows a significant change is Adah Price. Barbara Kingsolver develops the character of Adah Price in the novel through the things that people say about Adah and what she thinks of herself.

In The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, the aspect of biblical allusion is clearly present throughout the majority of the novel. For example, one of the most conspicuous allusions to the Bible is the way that Kingsolver has purposely named some of the main characters in her book after different people and images in the Bible. Kingsolver uses this biblical allusion to develop important themes, events, and characters in her novel. Kingsolver makes references to the Bible by tying in and creating similarities between important events and themes in the Bible and important events and themes in her novel.

In the beginning of the novel, Leah practically worships her father and makes it obvious by saying, “Not everyone can see it, but my father’s heart

The way that you develop and discover yourself and your personal attributes is largely impacted by the environment you grow up in, as shown in The Poisonwood Bible. Each member of the Price family reacts differently to their being thrown into a completely new location, culture, and livelihood; the maturation path of each child varies drastically from the others, and their exposure to the Congo impacts each of them in a different way, which we observe through each character’s language and behavior in the book. The stylistic formatting, tone, and figurative language used in Leah Price’s narratives in The Poisonwood Bible change as she grows, and the maturation of her physical structure and overall mentality correlate to her development in language throughout the story. Leah enters the Congo as a religious, rule-following adolescent from the suburbs of Bethlehem, Georgia, but as time passes and she becomes accustomed to the land, Leah begins to develop in ways that were once unforeseen by her and her family.

This quote shows how Leah starts to doubt her fathers ways, she is not flat-out disobeying him but she does not believe that his ideas are true. Leah wants to be independent, but it’s hard for her to change because she has been dependent on her father her entire life. In this quote Leah shows the reader how much she has changed,

The Poisonwood Bible is a novel written by Barbara Kingsolver that takes place in 1950’s New Orleans and the Congo of Africa. This story written in 1998 in reflection of imperialism, The Poisonwood Bible, is a political allegory. The Price family is the center of attention, each member having a specific role in the story as well as the political allegory about the imperialism and colonization of the Congo and other third world countries of the time. The mother Orleanna is an intellectual women for her time, the 50’s where women were supposed to be obedient to their husbands, and has a distinct voice. Barbara Kingsolver creates a specific voice for Orleanna Price to serve the purpose of being the advisory

Throughout a lifetime, many things are gained; experience, wisdom, knowledge, as well as a sure sense of self. But along with all these great things come regret, guilt, and shame of past events. Everyone deals with these in different ways, sometimes turning to religion and denial as coping mechanisms. In the novel The Poisonwood Bible, By Barbara Kingsolver, each member of the Price family deals with a personal guilt either gained while on their mission in the Congo or long before. This novel exemplifies the different types of guilt the Price family experienced throughout their stay in the Congo, and shows various means of reconciliation and forgiveness as the guilt is absolved.

Barbara Kingsolver's allegorical novel The Poisonwood Bible captures a white southern families struggles through cultural collision, avid faith, and psychological abuse. Kingsolver utilizes personal narratives to highlight the effect of western presence in Africa, not only pertaining to the natives but to the intrusive westerners themselves. The Price women display an array of different reactions to their quest in the Congo— each character contributes a different perspective which furthers the plot. Leah Price, one half of the highly intelligent twin dynamic, the only difference between the two is that, Leah is able bodied. Leah undergoes significant changes throughout their sojourn in Kilanga, she is forced to reevaluate the importance of the relationships she held closest to her heart and challenge the truths of political and social turmoil in the Congo. Leah finds her voice in a series of unfortunate events and it was the lessons from the villages people and her environment that facilitated that change.

In this paper, I will review Charles Ryrie’s book The Holy Spirit. I will detail what I feel the book is about. I will emphasize various points given by the author that stood out to me. Finally, I will give my personal evaluation of the book.

She is a person that took every day as it came to her and did what was necessary in order for her to survive. There was no shame in her trying to obtain happiness by keeping her cousin as a lover, nor killing an unborn child to keep herself from being punished. She is attempting to open the eyes of a naive priest who sees nothing but what he has learned from books.

A novel about colonialism in Africa and a poem about darkness can have similar meanings? Yes, in fact Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Poisonwood Bible and Emily Dickinson's poem We Grow Accustomed to the Dark have very similar aspects when it comes to certain aspects. The Price family, specifically the Price women in Kingsolver's novel, show very similar feelings towards Kilanga as do the people about the dark in Dickinson's poem. Both writings mention that in order to overcome this obstacle, you must approach it in steps. In Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, Orleanna and the daughters become more accustomed to the lifestyle in the Congo, and going along with the writings of We Grow Accustomed to the Dark, upon arrival the Price women

This allows her to demonstrate tone in the mood and thoughts of Leah. Initially, Leah is very dedicated to her father and seems to be the only one in the family who truly believes in Nathan’s mission. She exposes this in the condescending tone she expresses early on in the novel. Similar to her father, Leah seems to think that since she is the most religiously adept that she is superior to the rest of the family. While they squabble and work in the dirt she will perform the work of God with her father. When describing who does which chores, Leah states, “I personally set myself apart from the war on blood parasites. I preferred to help my father work on his garden. I’ve always been one for outdoor chores anyway, burning the trash and weeding, while my sisters squabbled about the dishes and such” (Kingsolver 35). In this quote Leah demonstrates how she strives to be her father. Throughout the book he expressed the same tone that Leah did. He thinks that he is better than everyone else and that the way he does things is best. Any other interpretation and any other way of doing things is wrong. Leah also demonstrates a tone of extreme meekness. She bows down to every wish of her father and does not understand that she can confront him. Leah is a slave to him. Anything that Nathan says or does is correct and there is no other way about it. After Nathan catches Methuselah cursing and punishes the children, Leah comments, “I didn’t say so, of course. I haven’t contradicted my father on any subject, ever” (66). Leah is completely afraid of her father as if he were God himself. This tone speaks to the deep religious beliefs that Nathan has instilled in his most obedient daughter. She is completely devoted to his cause and every word that he says; however, as she experiences the Congo culture and becomes integrated into the Congolese independence movement, her old

A reader can tell through the course of the story that something is bothering her. She has seen terrible things in her life, experienced terrible things. Sethe was beat. Once she was beaten so bad that it made a “tree” of scars (Beloved, 20). Paul D. inspected the wounds almost 20 years later touching the tree, “None of which Sethe could feel because her black skin had been dead for years.” (Beloved, 21). This poor woman was not only a slave, she was beaten and her “Milk was stolen”. No human being should ever have to go through such a beating. Sethe had gone through a lot, and she simply did not want her children to go through the same things.