Poisonwood+Bible

**Title: The Poisonwood Bible**  **Author: Barbara Kingsolver**  **Date of Publication:****1998**  **Literary Period:**  **Genre:Postcolonial fiction**


 * Describe the setting and then explain the relevance of the setting.**


 * The setting is in Kilanga, and this is important because the seperation and judgements from the Price family to the Conglese people happens because of diffferent society It apparent through many physical aspects as well as each person's different actions. It is set from 1959-1998.The Congo is not as lavish as Amerca, and the famiy is living through a drastic experience.


 * Themes (These statements should be complete sentences and completely developed ideas)**


 * **Culture should not be ignored. The west should not come in and try to influence and change identities.**
 * **material wealth does not influence happiness. There should not be a correlation there as shown.**
 * **Guilt is common with all people. Some just may disguise it more than others.**
 * **No one person has the same life path.**
 * **It is wrong to force others into a belief: pantheism.**
 * **To be humble is extrememly important; be thankful for what you have.**
 * **Religion is a personal choice. With religion, the main purpose should be personal connection not showing off your practice.**


 * Plot Summary (Please do not copy and paste. Simply list the high points of the novel) - Consider creating a visual flow chart or graph and posting it here.**


 * A baptist preacher from Georgia named Nathan Price forces his wfie, Orleanna Price and his four daughters to move to Congo for "Relgious Reasons".
 * Other missionaries from the past who were extremely successful when they lived there came to Africa, but they were successful because they let Africa affect them not them change its xulture.
 * They tell Nathan Price that because the political unstibility, they need to leace Congo ASAP, but even though now that mission is not sponsered, Nathan still continues while putting his family in danger.
 * Because of the depriving conditions the girls learn to adapt to the resources available and how to survive.
 * Ruth May gets Malaria.
 * A drought takes over Kilanga and hunger overtakes the girls.
 * Leah partakes in the village wide animal hunt for food even though women are not supposed to be involved in this even and this causes a discrepency between Chief Ndu and herself.
 * Ruth May is bit by a green Mamba snake which eventually kills her.
 * Orleanna finally realizes that she needs to take control and tells herself that she will take her family out of the Congo.
 * Rachel gets married to Axelroot and moves to South Africa and lives a luxurious life.
 * Adah and Orleanna go home.
 * Adah goes to Med School in Atlanta.
 * Leah and Anatole work together for freedom and start a family.
 * Memorable Quotes and their SIGNIFICANCE.**


 * "Our childhood had passed over into history overnight. The transition was unnoticed by anyone but ourselves"
 * "Not a one of those men will ever see a son born to carry on his name. And you dare to gloat before Christ himself about your undeserved blessing."
 * When Orleanna was pregnant with the twins,Nathan Price expresses his true emotions for having more girls in the family. He shows his true colors and Orleanna realizes her true feelings for her so called husband.
 * "Also if everyone lived to be old, then old age would not be such a treasure."
 * "Like they always say, the rearview mirror is twenty-twenty."
 * The past is clear in a person's life because it shapes the person the chose to become.
 * "They have no idea. One has //only// a life of one's own."
 * The people that judge are not to be held acountable because they truly have no idea of what that other person's story really is. Limiting a person's freedom only messes up the persons's dreams and hopes.
 * "When I finish reading a book from front to back, I read it back to front. It is a different book, back to front, and you can learn new things from it. It from things new learn can you and front to back book different a is it?"
 * Your past and your mistakes are meant to be learned from. Not to look over and mourn.
 * "We are the balance of our damage and our transgressions."
 * "Believe this: the mistakes are part of the story."


 * Describe the significance of the opening scene.**
 * It has a large amount of foreshadowing from Orleanna's Side. She already poses many questions for the reader to to wonder about before the novel even begins. Orleanna is leading her daughters through a jungle in the Congo. Orleanna begins to reveal her reason for the story. She is carrying this guilt for her daughters death. She believes that because she does not act as the mother she shouldve been is why Ruth May died. She questions her way to lvie with the guilt that she is carryring for a while now. And that is the story...


 * Describe the significance of the closing scene.**
 * In the end it is portrayed as if Ruth May has forgiven her mother. It shows the same journey as the opening scene as her mother is leading the four daughters through the Jungle. The scene is switched to ORleanna guiding the girls through the market to go to Ruth May's grave but there journey is not being completed. Later Ruth May concludes her purpose and says "you will forgive and remember" to Orleanna.


 * Describe the author's style and provide examples from the text.**
 * Kingslover writes each chapter based on a different sister's perspective. As the sister changes the tone and word style changes drastically, but when she writes about the Mother, the time frame changes bringing the reader to a different time set.


 * List importance characters and their significance.**
 * Nathan Price: He is a very stubborn man who does not change at all through the novel. In fact he dies the same way he presented himself in the beginning. His family leaves him because he does not deserve the title of a preacher, a husband, or a father. Trying to do an act in the name of religion only ruins him because his actions are not holy in any sort of way.
 * Orleanna: The mother. my favorite. She is consumed with the guilt of being the cause of Ruth May's death. For most of the novel she quitely takes in Nathans BS but later towards the end she decides that she has to take some action.
 * Leah: oh god..she just wants to be noticed and loved by her father, so she does everything that he would want her to. But as the novel goes on she realizes that her thoughts are just as important and she begins to fight for her jsutics and for the freedome of other with her husband, Anatole.
 * Anatole: Leahs school teacher who she ends up marrying. He is the hoope in Leah's life basically. He is her reason to live...awhhhh!!!
 * Rachel: She just loves material stuff. selfish and has a modern mindset. She is vain and all she cares about is herself and nothing else.
 * Adah: Well, she just refuses to speak at first. She feels unwanted until her mother saves her from the ant flood. Later she pursues med schoo and realizes her inabilities were all in her head. she is just as capable and powerful as any other.
 * Ruth May: Oh so innocent. she is so young when she moves and dies so early. But bad things can happen to good or bad people...kind of sucks.