The Poisonwood Bible

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Poisonwood Bible
Author Barbara Kingsolver
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Domestic fiction
Historical fiction
Publisher HarperFlamingo
Publication date 1998
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback) and audio-CD
Pages 546
ISBN ISBN 0-06-017540-0

The Poisonwood Bible (1998) by Barbara Kingsolver is a bestselling novel about a missionary family, the Prices, who in 1959 move from Georgia to the fictional village of Kilanga in the Belgian Congo. The Price's story, which parallels their host country's tumultuous emergence into the post-colonial era, is narrated by the five women of the family: Orleanna, long-suffering wife of Baptist missionary Nathan Price, and their four daughters – Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May.

The Poisonwood Bible was selected for Oprah's Book Club in 1999.

Contents

[edit] Plot introduction

Orleanna Price narrates the introductory chapter in six of the novel's seven sections (the last section, however, begins with an assurance of forgiveness from the deceased daughter to her guilt-plagued mother). The narrative then alternates among the four daughters, with a focus on Leah as she explores the political turmoil that overtook The Congo in the 1950s and 1960s. The increasing maturity of all four girls is apparent as each adapts differently to African village life and to the misogyny of their father, who wears out his family's welcome in Kilanga but refuses to depart. It is only after a series of misfortunes, however – culminating in the death of one of the daughters – that the women finally find the will to leave Nathan to his folly. The four survivors take very different paths into their futures, which are described up to the 1990s. The novel ends at the time of the death of Mobutu Sese Seko.

[edit] Major Characters

  • Orleanna Price - The mother of the four primary narrators and wife to Nathan Price, Orleanna is haunted by her time in the Congo and how it affected her life. She acts as the narrator who, looking back from the present, introduces each of the main sections of the book.
  • Rachel - The eldest of the Price daughters, Rachel is the voice of the materialistic teen. She is disgusted by the family's decision to move to Africa.
  • Leah - One of the Price twins, Leah at first idealizes her father and is heavily influenced by his religious views. Leah is the main voice of compassion among the Price sisters and later becomes the voice for justice.
  • Adah - The other Price twin, Adah was stricken with hemiplegia at birth, giving her a noticeable limp. Although Adah is vocally silent through most of the book, she is extremely intelligent in her writing. She is well-versed in poetry — especially the poems of Emily Dickinson — and likes creating palindromes. She casts a cynical eye on her father's religious practices.
  • Ruth May - The youngest of the Price siblings, Ruth May brings a voice of innocence to the narration in her simple interactions with the children of her community.
  • Nathan Price - The family patriarch; father to the Price girls, husband to Orleanna, and author of the family's ill-fated mission to Africa. Nathan is an overzealous Southern Baptist missionary whose actions — as witnessed by his wife and daughters — are often far from mainstream Christian. Under the guise of righteousness, he is often verbally and physically abusive to his family for their supposed religious and social misdeeds.
  • Anatole Ngemba - A local teacher in Kilanga, Anatole acts as Nathan's translator and family friend. Although Anatole and Nathan do not see eye to eye on many things, Anatole respects him and desires his community to be informed of Nathan's Christianity.

[edit] Major Themes

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (July 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Kingsolver focuses her novel on her view that most of the tragic violence and hunger experienced in The Congo can be traced to foreign influences. Kingsolver expands the novel into more than a historical critique of the colonialization of Africa by creating parallels between the political unrest in The Congo and the situation of the Price family girls as they are abused by Nathan, who vehemently believes himself an instrument of the Christian God. He symbolizes both the European exploitation of Africa and, by extension, the self-righteous dominion of the strong over anyone or anything too weak to prevent it. The Poisonwood Bible offers Kingsolver's perspectives on the imbalance of power, resources, and justice that exists in the Congo and elsewhere. On another level, the book may be read as a stab against patriarchy which may take forms in religious or racial bigotry. The tragic consequences of living with a diehard messianic but close-minded character of the missionary husband/father, Nathan Price, are highlighted in Kingsolver's work.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links