The Poisonwood Bible
By: Barbara Kingsolver
Paige Madsen, Devon Fox, Taylor
Glasoe, Grace Erpenbach, Laura
Andrews, Sam Monson
Setting
Congo (Kilanga) – When the Price family comes to the Congo
from “Bethlehem, Georgia, bearing Betty Crocker cake
mixes into the jungle.” They had no idea how different
this place was from their previous home. In this setting,
they were the only white people in their village and were
considered the freaks because of their long blonde hair
and pale skin. Whereas in Georgia, the schools they
attended were still segregated as Ruth May points out.
“Back home in Georgia they have their own school so
they won’t be a-strutting into Rachel’s and Leah and
Adah’s school.”
Another major difference was the styles. In Georgia the girls
would dress in their Sunday best, with white gloves and
primped hair, but here, “Children dressed up in the
ragbags of Baptist charity or else nothing at all.”
Finally, there is a huge difference in how they acted to Adah in the
Congo compared to in Georgia. In the Congo Adah is respected,
and definitely not looked upon with pity or disgust like she was in
the United States. It takes Adah a while, but the Congo teaches
her that her disability shouldn’t hold her back; none of the
Congolese think it should. She also witnesses characters like
Mama Mwanza, who has no legs yet still takes care of her big
family, and that helps her realize she can achieve anything she
chooses to work for.
1959-1980 prior to Congo’s historic declaration of independence,
the first election of a prime minister- When the Price family
enters the Congo, it is in the midst of a revolution. There were a
lot of uprisings, with many angry people and lots of secrets
between the Congo and the United States. When it got bad
enough, each Price family member reacted in a different way.
Orleanna decides to flee the country, Leah chooses to stay and
fight for the Congo’s independence, Rachel chooses to be
oblivious to the whole thing, and Adah goes back to the United
States and uses her intelligence to indirectly help the Congo with
her research in bacteria.
Missionaries- Being surrounded by their father’s
crazy and angry antics really affected how the
girls thought of religion. His anger and
forcefulness pushed all the girls away. Adah
and Leah both lost their belief in the God their
father shoved down their throats, and later
found different things to put their faith in.
Significant Characters
Leah Price: Initially as closed-minded as her father,
but begins to drastically change as she sees more
of the world. Ends up staying in Africa working
with Anatole to improve lives.
Rachel Price: Materialistic and dumb, Rachel ends
up marrying several times for money and owning
a luxury hotel in the Congo.
Adah Price: Leah's twin sister. Adah never speaks
and sees the world in different ways. She later
recovers from her condition and becomes a wellrespected and successful epidemioloist.
Ruth May Price: the youngest daughter, who
befriends the Congolese children. She is killed by
a snake.
Nathan Price: the father, who is an egotistical
minister. He brings his family to the Congo in
order to convert the Congolese and save souls.
He dies in the Congo.
Orleanna Price: the mother, who is submissive
to Nathan. She eventually finds the courage to
leave him after Ruth May's death and takes
better care of her daughters.
Tata Ndu: the village chief, who opposes Nathan's
teachings.
Tata Kuvudundu: the religious leader of the village,
often called a "witch doctor." He plants snakes to
convince the villagers that Nathan has cursed
them, and one of his snakes kills Ruth May.
Anatole Ngemba: the schoolteacher in the village,
and the translator. Marries Leah and takes action
against Mobutu reign.
Main Topics, Motifs, Images,
Symbols
Main Topics
Political allegory- Nathan is seen as the conqueror. Nathan
represents the cultural arrogance of the west, and their
need to seek power over the African people, and dealing
with the guilt. “How do we aim to live with it?”
Religion- Nathan tries to bring Christianity to the Congo by
attempting to baptize the Congolese in crocodile infested
waters, and by referring to Jesus as Poisonwood.
Western Control- Nathan attempts to dominate the Congo
with his views on Christianity, and by bringing in western
views that do not mesh in the Congo.
Nature- Nature proves to be very harsh in the Congo. People
die of starvation and children die young or are eaten by
crocodiles or lions.
Pantheism- Brother Fowles brings the idea of Pantheism to
the Congo with his believe that nature and God are one.
Motifs
Vision:
-Nathan’s eye injury from the war inhibits his vision, as
well as his inability to see the value in other cultures.
-Adah is able to read text forward and backward, and has
the ability to see things differently than others.
Speech:
- Nathan tries to bring Christianity to the Congo with his
powerful sermons
- Rachel uses many malapropisms
- Leah teaches young children with Anatole
- Adah is able to see words in new ways, and interpret
them both backward and forward
- Ruth May invents her own form of a language to
communicate with the Congolese children
Symbols
• Methuselah- represents the Congolese people. Kept
in a cage, unable to fend for himself. When he is
released into the wild, he stays close to the Price
family. He is then eaten by a wild cat, on the same
day as the Congolese Independence.
• Demonstration Garden- the western plants do not
thrive in the African climate, shows how western
culture does not thrive in the Congo.
• Poisonwood tree- Bangala, which Nathan
mispronounces for Jesus. Jesus causes pain and
death as the poisonwood tree does.
• Mirror- Vanity of Rachel. Many villagers come into
the Price house to look at themselves in the looking
glass. It is also Rachel’s most prized possession.
Images
• The scene in the beginning when the women
are walking through the forest, and then again
at the end when the women are walking
through the forest, this time without Ruth May.
• The imagery of the ant attack in Kilanga, and
the devastation that it brought to the village.
Conflicts in the Poisonwood Bible
Orleanna
The main conflict Orleanna deals with is the death
of Ruth May. She is fighting with herself because
she thinks she is responsible for the death of
Ruth May. The guilt she feels consumes her and
trying to move is nearly impossible even when
she returns to the US. She never truly forgives
herself until the end of the book when she
returns to the Congo with Leah, Adah, and
Rachel. Ruth May is the narrator during this final
scene and she forgives her mother and tells her
it’s time to move on.
Leah
Leah deals with several conflicts in the novel. She
struggles with her beliefs and religion. At one
point in the novel she gives up on her faith all
together because she doesn’t understand, if
there is a God, how he would let all of these bad
things happen to them. But later returns some of
her beliefs. Leah also conflicts with her
relationship with her father. She has always
idolized him, but now in the Congo, she starts to
see his true colors. As she grows up, Leah starts
turning away from her father and his views, and
begins to think more on her own.
Adah
Adah conflicts with her disability throughout the
novel. Even though she is Leah’s twin, she isn’t
anything like Leah, and chooses to merely
observe life, rather than participate in it. She is
cynic about life until it is almost taken away from
her and she starts to realize her disability
shouldn’t be controlling her life. When Adah
overcomes her handicap later in the novel she
starts to miss the way she could view life
differently than others. But she starts to see that
her disability, though it is now gone, will always
be a part of who she is.
Main Themes/Authors Position
Western Ignorance
• Nathan’s disregard of Mama Tataba’s advice in
gardening and his inevitable ruined garden shows the
West’s idea of superiority over all. Nathan is stubborn
in his thinking that he knows better than the native
Congolese, even though he is in new land that he truly
knows nothing about.
• Before the tragedy of the ants, the Price’s felt superior
to the other natives because of their concrete house,
material possessions, dried/canned foods and chickens.
After the tragedy, the Price’s were left destitute and
relied solely on the charity of their neighbors. This
shows the West’s arrogance that due to their material
possessions and skin color, they were above the
Congolese, when in actuality, they stayed alive because
of them.
How Do We Aim to Live With It
Whether it was from the death of Ruth May, the results of
Nathan’s teaching, or from the discoveries of the United
States involvement in the Congo, each of the Price women
felt guilt from their experiences while living in the Congo
and must try to go on living with it. As Leah turns her guilt
into motivation, she remains in Africa to try to solve all of
the problems that exist there, Orleanna remains as a
human rug, lies down and does nothing. Rachel acts as if
she has no guilt and keeps her thoughts solely about
herself while Adah dedicates her life to study and tries to
understand the world and what happens in it on a
scientific level. Kingsolver shows the women’s separate
reactions to their guilt to present the question to the
reader: After knowing about the cruelties and problems of
the world, how do we aim to live with it?
Power Scenes
Anatole vs. Nathan
PriceIn this scene, the Prices have Anatole over for dinner. As
the dinner progresses, he tells Nathan Price that Tata Ndu
is concerned that too many of the villagers are coming over
the church. Obviously Nathan doesn’t understand Tata
Ndu’s concern and is enraged by this news. He then tries to
turn the arugment around and blame it on Anatole. As
Rachel witnesses this power struggle she says “Father Laid
his knife and fork crossways on his plate and took a
breath, satisfied he’d gained the upper hand. Father
specializes in the upper hand.” And “Anatole seemed to
be getting ants in his pants but was still bound and
determined to argue with Father.”
Textual Evidence:Brother Anatole, I pray every day for
understanding and patience in leading Brother Ndu to
our church, he said. Perhaps I should pray for you as well.
Important Quotes
• “God doesn’t need to punish us. He just grants us a
long enough life to punish ourselves.” –Leah (pg.
327)
• “When I finally got up with sharp grains imbedded in
my knees I found, to my surprise, that I no longer
believed in God.” -Adah (pg. 171)
• “Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have
happened.” –Orleanna (pg. 5)
• “Move on. Walk forward into the light.” –Ruth May
(pg. 543)
• “Everything you’re sure is right can be wrong in
another place.” –Leah (pg. 505)
• “I felt the breath of God go cold on my skin.” –Leah
(pg. 309)
• “In the world, the carrying capacity for humans is
limited. History holds all things in the balance,
including large hopes and short lives.” –Adah (pg.
528)
• “The power is in the balance: we are our injuries, as
much as we are our successes.” –Adah (pg. 496)
• “It’s frightening when things you love appear
suddenly changed from what you have always
known.” –Leah (pg. 236)
• “The death of something living is the price of our
own survival and we pay it again and again. We have
no choice. It is the solemn promise every life on
Earth is born and bound to keep.”-Adah (pg. 347)
Humorous/Satirical Scenes
In his attempt to communicate better with the
Congolese natives, Nathan Prices tries to use
the word ‘bangala’ for ‘Tata Jesus is bangala’.
Bangala actually means poisonwood so
instead of increasing the villager’s interest in
Christianity, he makes them terrified of Jesus.
Not only does this show Nathan’s cultural
ignorance, it’s also funny to see Nathan and
the villagers increasingly worsening
interactions.