poisonwood_review_1

=The Poisonwood Bible=

by Barbara Kingsolver in 1998

__**Historical Context**__ //The Poisonwood Bible// was published in 1998, yet the novel takes place in the late 1950's. This novel was a response to her actual real world traveling experiences. Her reason for writing the novel had to do with the fact that she had visited the country in the 1960's, and was amazed and moved by the simplicity and happiness of the natives' lifestyles. Yet, many years later she found her true inspiration in writing the novel when she found out that the United States had been doing what it could to make sure the Congo would not achieve ultimate freedom. At the point in her life when she wrote the novel, Barbara Kingsolver had been pondering the question of how the average materialistic United States citizen would be able to deal with events such as those that the natives of the Congo had to. She focused on comparing and contrasting the wasteful and pompous life styles of those from the West with the simplistic existences of African citizens. Her novel, //The Poisonwood Bible,// shows the two cultures clashing head to head, and what chaos and discord would likely ensue. Her novel explored the shortcomings and strengths of human beings when it comes to adapting to difficult situations.

__**Literary Movement**__ **__and Key Elements of the Movement within the Text__** This novel can be associated with several literary movements but most prominently the postcolonialism movement. Postcolonial writers tend to focus on the effects of colonization on the society and culture of colonized lands. They tend also to disprove the logic behind colonization by reinforcing a message that no one culture or race is better than the rest and has the right to dominate. Postcolonial literature of the colonized also focuses on "otherness". There usually exists two (or more) groups of people that (by default) have contradicting beliefs, dissimilar languages, and /or opposite ways of life. These differences create a major conflict in which one group becomes the power and the other group is faced with the perils of "otherness". This "otherness" includes not only the differences between them and the colonizers, but also the difference between who they are after being colonized and who they once were as an independent culture and the differences among the people within the group. In Kingsolver's novel, the colonized are obviously the Congolese and the colonizers include the missionaries (such as the Price family specifically Nathan), the Belgians, and the Americans from all the way across the ocean. What exactly constitutes postcolonial literature is constantly debated. Some believe that American literature is not postcolonial unless it was written near the time of our colonization which causes issues because the postcolonial movement took place in the late 20th century. Another issue debated among postcolonial literature critics is how broad and expansive the terms of the movement are or have become. For the most part, they seem to agree that the literature needs to be written in the country of colonization after it has gained it's independence but this is much too broad because most of today's countries were colonized at some point. For further information on this movement see [|postcolonial literature] by wikipedia. The Poisonwood Bible fits into this movement by tweaking the guidelines a bit. First off, it was not written in a colonized country (well certainly not the one it was written about) and it is not written from the point of view of the colonized (if anything, it's the point of view of the colonizer because America is the more powerful group in this situation). But the work clearly addresses the issue of colonization from an anti-colonization and anti-manifest destiny standpoint by pointing out the imperfections in the belief that the white man can do whatever he chooses to whomever he chooses. I think that this implied and sometimes explicit theme of anti-colonization and domination is the one aspect of The Poisonwood bible that truly makes it a postcolonial novel. Throughout the novel this political message is mirrored in the price family. One of the most obvious examples of this is that Ruth May dies precisely on the same day as Patrice Lumumba (below). A more subtle example is the way in which the violence and relationships within the Price family (specifically between Nathan and the girls) is much like how a colonizer may force his beliefs and ways of life on the colonized, specifically how the Belgian Congo is repressed by tyranny. A key quotation from the text exhibiting this recurring idea of being conquered and repressed occurs on page 9 where Orleanna sets the precedent for the entire novel. She states "What is the conqueror's wife, if not a conquest herself?" Clearly, she views her husband as a colonizer and herself as the colonized just like the Congo. A last political massage brought up in the novel is one pertaining to religion. The Poisonwood Bible (as in the title) serves to emphasize the fact that the Congo(and most places) has it's own religion, culture, history, society, etc. and does not need our white, western, "right" way of life forced upon it. This explores the theme of how white men force their beliefs and culture on native people, or colonize them, even though they have no right to.

__Major Characters__
Adah- Adah walks with a limp and therefore allows her crookedness to become her identity. When she eventually loses her limp, she questions her own identity. She looks for balance in palindromes, which she often writes about. She is not afraid to say that she is different. She has a mind of her own; she's her own person and is very independent. Throughout much of the novel, she has a pessimistic outlook on life.

Ruth May- Ruth May is young and innocent. She speaks in very short and choppy sentences due to her young age. Her voice throughout the novel is structured by constructing simple sentences. Because she is only five years old, she cannot be as reflective as the others. Her voice lacks reflection and dimension. She has a very narrow scope and she doesn't have to ability to comprehend. She parrots others, especially Nathan. Her parroting is often incorrect because she misunderstands others. Her simple/literal presentation draws attention because it is often ironic. She is unaware of other people. In the last chapter, she becomes an omniscient voice. Her death has made her wise. Her sentence structure and language becomes more complex, which shows her greater understanding.

Rachel- Rachel has a very superficial voice. She is egotistical and everything has to be about her. This is shown through the novel because she always uses the words I, me and my. She is not respectful of other cultures. She often uses malaprops within her writing and has poor grammar. She only sees things on the surface or superficially. Her tone is often resentful or mocking. She only focuses on worldly things and appearance. She also absolves herself of blame.

Leah- A lot of what Leah says is contradictory. In the beginning of the novel, Leah wants to be like her father and is very religious. She uses a lot of biblical references. Her writing style is not as complex as Adah. She has a compassionate tone and takes all sides into consideration. She uses rhetorical questions, where she "talks aloud". Her language is very practical and she often repeats what she says. Like Adah, she seeks balance through cause and effect. She balances or counteracts Adah because they are twins.

Orleanna- Orleanna feels guilty throughout the novel because of the death of Ruth May. She often uses phrases like "I should have...". She has a pessimistic and inferior tone. She often uses references to slavery, imprisonment and conquest. She uses rhetorical questions that are directed towards Ruth May. She dwells excessively on the past. She speaks in the past tense. Her tale is told in hindsight. She uses a lot of foreshadowing. She speaks mostly to Ruth May. She focuses beyond herself and sees the greater picture.

Nathan- Nathan is the patriarch of the family. He is stubborn, yet driven to carry out his mission of converting the villagers of Kilinga. He feels that women should stay in the home. He acts like he's God or a representation of God on Earth. He also feels guilty because he's the only surviving member of his troop from the Bataan Death March. He doesn't have any first person narrations during the novel, but he is referred to and is given voice in the third person. He also makes biblical references. Anatole Ngemba- Anatole is first seen as a schoolteacher in the village. He grows close to Leah and he eventually marries her after the Price women leave Kilinga. During his marriage to Leah, in which he helps sire multiple children, he joins and works for an underground group that works to overthrow the Mobutu dictatorship. He is an intelligent character and is well-versed in the English language. He is also given voice in the third person. Tata Ndu- Tata Ndu is the village chief in Kilinga. He accepts the Price family, but is wary of the religion that Nathan brings with him. He dislikes both Nathan and Christianity. He subtly tries to get the Prices out of Kilinga. He is wise, yet decisive. Tata Kuvundu- Tata Kuvundu is the religious leader of the village. He extremely dislikes Christianity and Reverend Price. He does take a liking to Rachel, though, who avoids courtship with him by faking a relationship with Eeben Axelroot. Kuvundu also tries to get the Prices out of Kilinga by using more drastic measures, including putting a basket with poisonous snakes where Nelson sleeps. Because of the snakes, Kuvundu inadvertently kills Ruth May.

Nelson- Nelson is an orphan and a student of Anatole's. He's a fast learner in his class. He becomes a helper for the Price family. He helps the daughters learn the language and customs of Kilinga. He was originally supposed to be the victim of the snake attack, which resulted in Ruth May's death.

Brother Fowles- Brother Fowles was the missionary previously stationed at the Kilinga post. He was removed from his post because he was socializing and getting close with the native villagers. He eventually accepted the Kilingan way of life and married a native villager. He is portrayed as wise and a kind, generous, Santa Claus-like figure because of his age and his beard. Eeben Axelroot- Eeben Axelroot was a mercenary, pilot, and CIA operative who flew the Price family to Kilinga. He is portrayed as immoral because of his actions towards the Congolese government, Rachel, and the fact that he was a diamond smuggler. He helps to overthrow Patrice Lumumba, the leader of the Congo government. He helps Rachel out of marrying Tata Kuvundu by faking a relationship and a marriage with her. He flies her out of Kilinga to South Africa, where life is more civilized than life in the village.

__** Central Conflict **__ The main conflict in the novel is Man vs. Self. Nathan’s guilt at being the only surviving member of his troop during the Bataan Death March causes him to devote his time and energy to his missionary assignment. This causes problems for his family, since they had to move to a strange, new environment and cope with their lives. It also causes problems with the villagers, which leads to Ruth May’s death. This causes Orleanna and her remaining daughters to distance themselves from Nathan, eventually leaving Kilinga and abandoning Nathan.

__**Central Themes**__
//It is inevitable that hardship will fall upon all, regardless of background, wealth, or religious background.// The Price family comes to the Congo, led by Nathan, in a quest to bring a sort of religious enlightenment to the Congo. Nathan and his family see themselves as a more high class type of family that enters the Congo hoping to bring some sort of stability to the lives of the natives. Yet, he is met with several instances of misfortune, one being the infertility of his garden. With the garden, he hopes to show the Congo people how to plant and harvest crops in order to live a better life. Yet, this garden winds up failing because his type of crop cannot be pollinated by the native organisms. This serves to show that even Nathan, with his Western money and experience, cannot being a miracle and instant success to the African lands. Also, towards the end of the novel, Ruth May is killed by a snake bite, and dies at an unreasonable young age. The Price family, which was supposed to bring all of the answers to the Congo natives, has been burdened by similar types of disasters that the natives have themselves.

//Arrogance will do nothing but lessen the ability of two dissimilar cultures to relate to each other.// Although intentionally or not, the Price family brought a type of arrogance to the Congo, constantly trying to force their own beliefs on the people. The idea brought forth that a Christian lifestyle would change the lives of the Congolese for the better brought sorrow and conflict. Before the Price family arrived, the Congo carried a deep tradition of native religion, and did not take the idea of changing their old beliefs with grace, most understandably. Nathan will not give up this idea of forcing his religion on the people, even with the warnings of Anatole and Tata Ndu, who say that the onset of Christianity is tearing their country apart and must be stopped. Kingsolver demonstrates the American tendency to have little regard of those who appear to be inferior or do not live in a material, Western manner. Nathan is so stubborn that he stays in the area until the bitter end, through tremendous conflict and immediate tragedy. The Price family is viewed as arrogant and evil by the natives, who do not appreciate their imposing nature.

__**Key Quotes**__
**Adah: “Tall and straight I may appear, but I will always be Ada inside. A crooked little person trying to tell the truth. The power is in the balance: we are our injuries, as much as we are our successes” (496).** [4] This quote defines Adah. Her entire life was defined by her crookedness. Her identity is based her limp and how she seeks a balance that she does not have. When she corrects her limp, it is like she lost her sense of identity. She has gained the balance she was searching for but she has lost herself. Even the bad things in life help define who we are. **Orleanna: "Try to imagine what never happened: our family without Africa, or the Africa that would have been without us. Look at your sisters now. Lock, stock, and barrel, they've got their own three ways to live with our history. Some can find it. Many more never do. But which one among us is without sin? I can hardly think where to cast my stones, so I just go on keening for my own losses, trying to wear the marks of the boot on my back as gracefully as the Congo wears hers. My little beast, my eyes, my favorite stolen egg. Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I've only found sorrow" (385).** [4] Orleanna is looking back on her experiences in Africa. She never lives a day without feeling guilty for all that had happened. She is carrying the weight of what happened in the Congo all on her shoulders. She always speaks to Ruth May due to this guilt. Even in times of celebration and stillness, she only finds sorrow. She cannot forgive herself for what happened in the past. **Ruth May: "You are afraid you might forget, but you never will. You will forgive and remember. Think of the vine that curls from the small square plot that was once my heart. That is the only marker you need. Move on. Walk forward into the light." (543)** [4] Ruth May has became mature through death. Death and the experiences have made her wise. She has become an omniscient voice and she is speaking to Orleanna. She knows Orleanna will never forget what happened but she wants her to move on. She wants her to be able to die in peace and move on with her life.

**__Pivotal Scenes__**
//The Ants—// A plague of flesh-eating ants take over the village. The family is forced to evacuate the village. Everyone’s true colors are shown during this scene. Rachel is only worried about herself and her mirror. The mirror, which symbolized civilization, breaks, therefore ruining the only object Rachel had from home. Orleanna only takes Ruth May along with her and leaves limping Adah to fend for herself. Adah is left alone in the madness, feeling alone and deserted. Anatole saves both Leah and Adah. //The Hunt—// The tribe decides to have a hunt to find food, in which only men take part in. Leah wants to break this tradition and join in on the hunt. Even though Nathan protests, Leah defies her father and goes anyway. Tata Ndu and Tata Kuvundu do not want Leah to take part either because they thought that it goes against all of their traditions. Anatole is the only one who fights for her. He is reprimanded for this and a snake is placed within his house. This forced Anatole to leave the village. The chief feels that the animals are going to rise up against them due to Leah’s action in the hunt. //Death of Ruth May—// Ruth May is bitten by the snake that Tata Ndu placed in their garden. She immediately falls ill and dies. Ruth May foreshadows her own death by a snake because earlier in the novel she states that she would like to live like a snake. A snake has the power to camouflage itself and see what is going on around it. In all of Orleanna’s sections of the novel, she expresses guilt because of the death of her youngest daughter Ruth May. This is what causes Orleanna to change her perspective. She stops following Nathan and giving in to his orders. Her mission had changed to getting her remaining girls out of the Congo. All she wants to do is continue walking and leave the Congo. This scene was the start of their effort to leave the Congo.