Title: The Poisonwood Bible
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Date of Publication: 1998
Genre: historical drama
Historical information about time period/setting:
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Date of Publication: 1998
Genre: historical drama
Historical information about time period/setting:
- Belgian Congo which becomes Zaire
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- French Congo
- Congo was poor and oppressed
- born in 1955 and grew up in Kentucky
- degrees in biology but works as an author
- has worked in Euroope, Africa, Asia, Mexico, and South America
- now lives in Virginia
- two daughters and a husband
- lives on a farm
- focused on narrative
- serious representation of life
- focused on events
- protagonist is easy to relate to
- complex plot
- family moves to Africa to try to bring the word of God to the people there
- they start in Kilanga
- Villagers do not agree with Reverend's ways
- Reverend keeps trying to preach and continues to go against the villagers' beliefs
- Orleanna begins to look for ways to escape because she doesn't think it is safe anymore, and they move back to Georgia
- "At the stream bank she sets out their drear picnic, which is only dense, crumbling bread daubed with crushed peanut and slices of bitter plantain" (6). -Significant because it shows the plain, boring lifestyle that they were living.
- "Ripe fruits, acrid sweat, urine, flowers, dark spices, and other things I've never even seem" (87). -Significant because it shows how sensational it was for them at the beginning, with so many different sights and scents they had never experienced before.
- "That's how it is with the firstborn, no matter what kind of mother you are - rich, poor, frazzled half to death, or sweetly content" (381). -Significant because Orleanna takes her role as a mother very seriously, and this quote portrays her admitting there is no way to truly know if you are raising your first child right.
- Nathan Price:
- role: Baptist minister, dad
- significance: to preach and to save the villagers' souls
- adjectives: persistent, guilty, frustrated
- Orleanna Price:
- role: mother
- significance: keeps her daughters safe and sees things in a wise perspective
- adjectives: caring, loving, loyal, fearful
- Rachel Price:
- role: sister
- significance: stupid at a young age but is able to sway people later on with her good looks
- adjectives: selfish, materialistic
- Leah Price:
- role: sister
- significance: supports her father at first ut then goes on to improve the life of the Congolese
- adjective: passionate, idealistic, faithful
- Adah Price:
- role: sister
- significance: disabled, and likes to observe, but going to the Congo changes that
- adjectives: caring, introverted
- Ruth May Price:
- role: sister
- significance: friendly with all of the village children, gets sick with malaria, is killed by the snake
- adjectives: friendly, outgoing, weak
- Kilanga
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- French Congo
- Georgia
- The opening scene foreshadows the death of Ruth May and how she continues to watch over them, because they describe the forest as eating itself and living forever.
- Ruth May is the eyes in the tree and is looking down on the impact she had during her life and how she helped to shape the future of her family.
- the parrot
- Nathan's garden
- the poisonwood tree
- snake
- the difficulty in overcoming guilt
- the different types of justice throughout the world
- what a mother would do out of love