Kyle Pitcher
AP Language and Composition
The Poisonwood Bible Concept Analysis
When an author sits down to create a novel, they attempt to weave together a vast array of
language in order to form a coherent story. Often, the author charges their words with their own lyrical
energy, allowing the reader to have insight into the meaning behind those words. Barbara Kingsolver
scribes her tale of a family on a mission in the Congo, and unknown to the reader at face value, includes
many deeper themes that give her novel meaning. There are many different themes involved in her
story, which gives it nearly universal meaning, allowing it to be interpreted in a new way by every
reader.
While reading The Poisonwood Bible, I discovered a number of instances in which various
themes were apparent to me. Faith quickly became one of Kingsolver’s central messages that recurred
throughout her story. Nathan, patriarch of the Price family, was the one that decided to move his family
to the Congo to spread the good news of the Baptist church. This man has an extreme devotion and
faith to his religion, strong enough to drive his loved ones into the ground. As the novel progresses,
Nathan gradually becomes more closed-minded, shutting out the input coming from the people around
him regarding the severity of their situation. Leah, the most worldly of Nathan’s four daughters,
maintains faith in him when the rest of the family becomes tired of his arrogance. For the most part, the
Price family is close-knit and together. They keep faith in the family dynamic and hope that they will stay
close, even if it does happen to fail.
Barbara Kingsolver places a hefty amount of emphasis on the general concept of faith
throughout her work. She shows that faith is needed in order to drive someone forward towards their
aspirations. Without any faith in a person, a concept, or a structure, there is a lack of motivation to push
the individual towards their goals. Kingsolver realizes that faith is a massive aspect in the lives of
everyone that has the potential to shape their fate, for better or worse.
Kyle Pitcher
AP Language and Composition
Having faith is extremely important and useful for nearly everyone, but following that faith
blindly without recognizing the reality of the consequences of one’s actions results in ignorance. This
plague upon the human mind has the potential to manifest itself in a multitude of different forms.
Orleanna Price, mother, married the man of her dreams, the one person in the world that she felt was
her perfect match. As their years together passed by and they entered the Congo, Nathan began to
change for the worst. Orleanna, refusing to believe that anything was actually wrong with their
situation, denied Nathan’s changes in behavior and feigned ignorance to the whole situation. From the
opposite side of the situation, Nathan continued to spread His good message to the godless savages that
surrounded him. His fanatic devotion to religion caused him to misinterpret the world around him.
Nathan’s obsessions caused him to become ignorant to the point where he could not see that he was
harming his family.
Having a closed mind and being ignorant results in a loss of clarity towards one’s reality. If a
person becomes ignorant, then they can not admit that they have a problem, or can not see that their
actions are unintentionally harmful towards the people they care about. Kingsolver attempts to stress
the importance of people being conscious in regards to the world around them. By playing into the
aspect of ignorance, she is almost trying to give the reader an example of what not to be doing in day to
day life.
Throughout the story, many years pass, which shows the aging and maturity of the main
characters. As these many years have passed, the daughters (Ruth May withstanding) have grown, both
literally and figuratively. Leah became a strong, hearty woman after she ceased the idolization of her
father. Adah overcame the bitterness that stemmed from her birth defect and became a successful
doctor. Rachel became wiser and learned to take advantage of her looks to obtain wealth. With the
book spanning over so many years of the girls’ lives, it became possible to see how they had grown taller
Kyle Pitcher
AP Language and Composition
and grown wiser. Every one of the girls had changed from what they once were when they were
children. The catalyst for their growth was the Congo, which formed the course for the rest of their lives.
Experiencing the many hardships that the expansive rainforest had to offer forced them to cope with
their problems, which made them stronger for it.
Growth is an enormous aspect in the life of anyone. As people grow old, they start to become
decrepit with their age. As people grow strong, they learn to conquer the many road blocks that turn up
on the highway of life. As people grow up, they begin to see the world in a different light than they had
when they were innocent children. Kingsolver chose to magnify the importance of growth throughout
her story because of the all-encompassing influence it has on nearly everything. Everybody grows, and
everybody changes.
Barbara Kingsolver’s story of an average family that has an extraordinary experience can be
interpreted in a countless number of ways. Within the mounds of underlying tones and droves of hidden
meanings throughout the book, I found three messages that stood out to me as being the main points of
the story; faith, ignorance, and growth. These themes, while seemingly pointless by themselves, form
my perspective about the overall message of the story. Everyone has faith; it’s what drives people to
push their own lives forward. Driving forward without looking backwards once in a while to see if you’ve
made any mistakes will make a person ignorant to the problems that they are facing. Any experience in
life, whether it be a carefully planned out choice or an impulse decision based on instinct, will lead to
growth and becoming more knowledgeable in regards to the world around them.