...The Poisonwood Bible This summer I read the book The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I chose this book because I wanted to learn about one of the many different cultures of Africa. The book is about adapting to a different lifestyle and also changing your ways as the world around you changes too. The book is also about religion and one of the main storylines is about trying to teach Christianity to the people in the Congo Basin. The Poisonwood Bible starts off with a baptist preacher named Nathan Price taking his family from to the village of Kilanga in the Belgian Congo in order to spread Christianity. Nathan’s family consisted of his wife Orleanna, and his daughters Leah, Adah, Ruth May, and Rachel. The mother and daughters except for quickly learn that they should not be living there. However, Leah starts to fall in love with a schoolteacher there named Anatole and starts to embrace the Congo. “It’s a heavenly paradise in the Congo, and sometimes I want to live here forever." (104). Nathan ignores obvious signs of his church failing and the need to leave as the upcoming election will declare the Congo apart from Belgium. Eventually their servant Nelson thinks that someone is trying to kill...
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...Cherry picking verses from the Bible has become a norm for many modern self-proclaimed Christians. Phrases are taken completely out of context, and stated as though they are stand-alone quotes, or a series of one-liners, rather than part of a comprehensive story. It is not exactly their fault, though. Over time, today’s society has become one of 140-characters or less and 6-second long snippets; any longer, and our attention is lost, being vied for elsewhere. It is much easier to just pass on what one has heard from others, hence “Jesus said ‘do not judge,’” because that is what people have been told. However, if a person researched the context of the verse that this phrase stems from, they would realize that there is a lot more to it, including the way in which one judges, as well as recognizing good from evil in order to judge righteously....
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...Discrimination has been known to cause trouble within groups since the beginning of time. The scenario always begins with someone showing dominance over others, which then leads to conflict between the dominator and submissives who seek equality. Sadly these stories always end tragically as the superior being is always overthrown and brought back to where they came from, or worse. Throughout both novels, discrimination is exhumed by the main characters of the novels The Poisonwood Bible, Grendel, and Beowulf. In The Poisonwood Bible, Nathan Price can be seen patronizing himself because of his religion and physical being. On the other hand, the Geats from Beowulf and Grendel set themselves as worthier individuals because of their combat skills....
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...In Book 1, Kingsolver summarizes the beginning phase of the Price’s mission in the Congo to spread the word of God to the Kilanga tribes despite their reluctance. As Nathan Price forms the foundations of his religious work and aims to have complete control over the Congolese and the way they live their life, the section conforms with the quote and the title, Genesis. In Book 2, the quote is applicable to this section of the text in that Anatole urges Nathan and the family to leave the Congo because of the emerging revolution that will take place. However, Nathan refuses to hear Anatole out, especially since he keeps insinuating that his religion is corrupting Kilanga and its people. Nathan instead blocks out all noise and opposition, not hearing...
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...“ And, after all, our surroundings influence our lives and characters as much as fate, destiny, or any supernatural agency,” Pauline Hopkins, Contending Forces. Starting off in the non realistic novel, a family, the Price’s, move to the Belgian Congo from Bethlehem, Georgia, in 1959 due to missionary. The Poisonwood Bible is based off of being told from different perspectives of how the life is living in the Congo. Mainly from the mother and her four children point of view. A character within the novel has been shaped by cultural, physical, or geographical surroundings. Development for someone can occur in different ways. It is possible that your surroundings can make who you truly are. Through trials and tribulations for this specific character,...
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...The significance of a title is often hidden within the pages of a novel. The true meaning of the title: The Poisonwood Bible, is not revealed until further inspection into the novel. The reader learns that the translation of the word “bangala”, often used by Nathan Price to describe Jesus, can be used to mean “precious,” but also translates to the name for a dangerous plant in the Congo, poisonwood. The author reveals this truth throughout the novel by using contrast and point of view. The author utilizes contrast to present differences between the beliefs of Nathan Price and the locals of the Congo quite often. Nathan Price enters the Congo with a drive to present Christianity to the locals as a need rather than a want. With stubborn and demanding behavior, Reverend Price attempts to manipulate the Congolese into...
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...The Impact of Childhood The Poisonwood Bible ,by Barbara Kingswood, is a remarkable tale that expresses the several political transitions in the Congo through the eyes of a Baptist family. Nathan Price , a cruel and ironically a fiercely religious man, is the head of this family followed by his once effervescent wife, Orleanna, and his four daughters; Rachel the eldest and vainest, Leah, a tomboy who strives for her father's attention, Adah, Leah's disabled and genius twin, and Ruth May the youngest of the family. In the midst of several familial struggles, the conflict between Adah and Nathan Price is one that greatly contributes to the interpretation of this piece. At their birth, Adah and Leah appear to be a healthy set of twins. However, as time passes it is discovered that the left side of Adah's body is paralyzed because of a lack of nutrients in the womb. Due to her condition, she spends her detached from the world and maintains a cynical perspective at a young age which can be seen in her words concerning her twin," But I am a lame gallimaufry and she remains perfect" ( Kingsolver 34). Over the course of her early life, she maintains her position as an observer in the life of others and absorbs much information. Clearly, Adah's disability greatly affects her outlook on life....
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...The world we live in is comprised of diverse cultures and beliefs which add to define the complexity of the societies and political structures that man has established. Yet, as much as diversity could be used as an advantage, humans have constantly disputed with each other because of opposing viewpoints. After reading the Poisonwood Bible, I suddenly realized that Barbara Kingsolver wanted her audience to picture the effects that occur when we refuse to appreciate and accept one another's beliefs. Nathan Price, after moving his family to the Congo, could not understand that his beliefs would and could not simply be accepted by the villagers in Kilanga. He could not fathom the refusal of Christianity, and therefore, insisted on 'reforming'...
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...mankind since the search for a higher power began. To many different people, the definition of God varies. He was presented to humans long ago, “Early people did not have science to help them find answers. So they had to invent answers for themselves. And they passed their ideas on to their children and grandchildren in the form of stories and legends” (Moskin 22). People have always attempted to translate and interpret who God is. Yet the Bible clearly establishes the relationship between man and God, “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he Created them” (Genesis 1:26-27). Man is the creation of God, and with those words declared from the Gospel, man has tasked themselves with interpreting exactly who God is and who he should be to the people on Earth. In Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, Kingsolver uses Nathan Price to represent man’s inaccurate portrayal of God which drives people away from religion and she uses Brother Fowles to refute all men inaccurately portraying God. The search for God and who he is is built through these two men, and the impact of them on others....
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...face, and so he refuses to let them leave” (Novels 205). By making this argument, they assume that there is a distinct separation between government and religion. If Nathan is so devout to the Lord’s word and teachings, there is no way that he could be influenced by government propaganda. His religious beliefs intertwine with what the government has programmed him to believe, “Nathan, the missionary, represents the American political attitude in attempting to civilize the Congolese via the Christian religion: politics and religion go hand-in-hand” (Becker 15). This is still a subconscious recreation of American government. Not only does religion and government intermingle when it thought to be two distinct entities, but America has used religion as a technique to mask their government actions, “He shows how a dominant European and American technique for diverting attention from the truth involved a language of righteous zeal and religious reckoning, a scriptural rhetoric used to hide the real story of imperial greed” (Ognibene 19). This shows that if anything Nathan’s personality is a mixture of both religion and government, but does not entirely out rule the government’s, and therefore propaganda’s influence on him. Propaganda has subconscious and detrimental effects that have yet to be fully understood. In The Poisonwood Bible, Kingsolver attempts to bring light to the subject by using an extreme case. Nathan Price’s religious zeal overlaps with his American exceptionalism, all...
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...Human rights are a set of principles used to bring the world to freedom and equality; consequently, if they are not followed, injustice and imparity plagues the world. In Barbara Kingsolvers’ The Poisonwood Bible, there are key moments where an individual’s freedom of religion, opinion, and expression are denied, suppressing people’s ability to join society openly. This can also be recognized in 1984, a dystopian novel by George Orwell, where the citizens living in its world face restrictions to their right to life and liberty, and freedom from inhumane treatment, all taken by their very own government. The fact is that individuals, or a group of individuals, seek authority by taking the human power of rights and freedoms, ultimately taking...
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...new religion takes immense dedication and patience. Nathan Price an opinionated, evangelical, Baptist from the town of Bethlehem, Georgia brings his family of six to do just that. Nathan, his wife, and his four daughters are located at Kilanga an isolated village in Congo. Nathan is very confident that he will convert all the locals in the name of God but he is forgetting something, Nathan is forgetting that he is in a place where not just the language is different but also the inherent perspectives. The story of The Poisonwood Bible starts with the frantic commotion of the Price family after they have just been told that there is a wieght limit for their bags which are overflowing with seemingly essential pieces of their once known life. It seems as if the reason the Price family insisted on stuffing cake mixes, books and other western novelties was not to have them in case but to have some connection with the world they grew up in. For Orleanna, Nathan's wife, her special bone-china platter with the blue flowers has a “protective power of primitive amulets and charms, that is an assurance that the arrow, the flames, and the flood are not as brutal as they seem.” (The Hero with a Thousand Faces, p107)....
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...The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, is a book that involves many characters and their views on the issues they face. The main female characters, Orleanna, Leah, Adah, Rachel, and Ruth May all are telling the same story, but from different perspectives and unique interpretations of certain events. The events of the story deal with guilt, grief, forgiveness, the struggle for survival, and much more. It involved many parallels to different situations, mainly the Congo Crisis as a whole. Through the characters and events of the story, the reader gets an understanding of the issues of the Congo and is able to compare the situations faced between the characters to the main issue. To add, the novel is considered to be a frame story. A frame...
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...Looking at literature that’s based off post-colonialism, it’s hard to find a point of view that is unbiased and lacking western Orientalism that taints writings about less civilized cultures. Two books paint both sides of the equation: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible. In both novels, the author depicts a character going through both an internal and external struggle dealing with exile. The authors conclude in different variations that it’s after the alienation, or exile, of a character that lets black African Orientalism to cause change, not in the character’s enlightenment, but to change them into a sacrificial character for others’ enrichment. In these novels, it reveals how Africa faces...
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...Shaynna Taylor Ms. Purveys Dual Enrollment DATE \@ "MMMM d, y" April 8, 2015 Immoral Actions in The Poisonwood Bible Immorality can stem from many different aspects of life. In today’s society there are many forms of immorality through police brutality, entertainment,woman’s rights and many others. Immorality can be defined as the defiance of moral principles established by personal and social ethics. Many examples of immorality can be found through out everyday living. The entertainment business has been desensitized by usage of derogatory language, the acceptance of drug usage as well as explicit video content. Immorality is prevalent through the law and legality systems whereby police brutality has now been headlined. In many cases such as Ferguson,MO, Miami Gardens,FA and North Charleston, SC a new era of police brutality has become prevalent through immorality. Also the standards for men are vastly divergent from those set for women in society. As stated by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie featured in a song “ We teach girls to shrink themselves smaller, we say to girls “You can have ambition but not too much, You should aim to be successful but not too successful otherwise you will threaten the man” Because I am a female I am expected to aspire to marriage, I am expected to make life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support, but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don't...
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