Submitted by: Samuel Rory Gangbar
Student #: 207315419
The Poisonwood Bible
By: Barbara Kingsolver
Introduction and personal significance: Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible brings a clear voice to how issues of race are still predominant within the larger heteronormative conscience. Race, one of the central dynamics in the story, helps to explain the organic tensions that exist between the villagers and the Price Family. Further, this tension between blacks and whites seems to permeate the novel pitting the black villagers against the white missionary family. Human history is, and always has been perplexed with questions of race. Thus, at the heart of this novel lies the consideration that we need to treat each other with respect and dignity, and what it means when we don’t. Themes of colonialism and exploitation ultimately dominate the novel – but the kicker here is that the story remains true to the pure art of storytelling, as in engulfs the reader in the five main narratives of the story – giving equal say to all characters involved. The sheer brilliance and voice that Kingsolver applies, combined with the important themes has made this story truly memorable and one the will certainly remain of significance for future readers. As a future graduate of inclusive education, I believe that this novel will help satisfy equitable qualities while trying to enlighten readers with a new historical perspective of Africa and the Congo. On a more personal level, I want my students to salivate over Kingsolver’s queries and boldly infused narration. Finally, the numerous connections and allusions to be found throughout this novel present the teacher with gregarious amounts of material to draw from – allowing the teaching of this novel to remain fresh and current.
Brief Synopsis: The Poisonwood Bible, told through the many narratives of Orleanna Price and her four daughters, is the story of a missionary family who travel to Africa, the Belgian Congo (now known as Zaire) during the years of 1959-61, just as the nation was claiming its independence from Colonial rule. The story unfolds as Seven Books, each revealing a part of the Price’s family’s history in the Congo. The family encounters many obstacles as they begin to adapt to their new surroundings, while Nathan Price, the patriarchal head of the family, remains oblivious to the feelings of his family and to the villagers he is trying to convert. Framing the families’ own internal conflict with that of the Congo’s own historical strife, the family begins to fall apart. Although the family is given advice by the people living there to flee many times, Nathan refuses, putting his family in constant danger. The final straw comes when Ruth May, the youngest of the girls, is killed by a green mamba snake placed in their chicken house by a villager. At this juncture, Orleanna and her three remaining daughters walk out of the village and Nathan's life forever. The women struggle to come to terms with their time in the Congo, as Book Five becomes an extended conversation about how each Price women now views their own lives and self-worth after the death of Ruth May. Finally, Book Six summarizes each of the three sisters’ feelings about their lives and memories in the Congo, while Book Seven concludes with the innocence and sage commentary of Ruth May. It is Ruth May that comments on the things she has witnessed, on themes of death, all while offering forgiveness to her mother. The tempest at the core of The Poisonwood Bible express a myriad of themes including but not limited to power and dominance, race, salvation and redemption, and culminating in the idea that through story telling, one can begin the healing process that is necessary for self-improvement and self-preservation.
A) The Poisonwood Bible, Written by Barbara Kingsolver, is a sizeable novel that would be best taught and understood in grade 12 English, and Creative Writing courses. Further, themes are also congruent with that of a grade 12 Social Sciences, specifically the SAP (Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy) courses. Moreover, themes in this novel are of a mature nature, and require students with a considerable knowledge base and refined reading skills. Coincidently, this book could also be used as worthwhile resource for a grade 12 History class as it parallels the events of U.S. Colonialism in the Congo during the 1950’s.
B) The depth of knowledge and thematic resources available in The Poisonwood Bible remain infinite. The following is a short list of teaching points that promote critical thinking and rational development for students:
Social: Looking at the novel through a Marxist perspective will allow students the opportunity to develop the ability to manage several critical perspectives without allowing their own bias to taint their thinking. New students yet to encounter multiple critical perspectives will struggle with terms such as ‘Marxist’, which often carries negative overtones for North Americans, who associate the word with habitual distaste for modern or historical communist states. While imposing a Marxian perspective throughout the study of the novel, students will need to learn and reflect ideas that a critical lens should be independent but not necessarily out of line with their own beliefs.
Topical: “That poor goat of your fathers is a very unhappy animal,” says Anatole to Leah, then she thinks immediately, “And his wife!” (p.284). Kingsolver speaks to the feminist perspective multiple times over throughout this novel. She further accentuates her point when comparing the mistreatment and malpractice of women in both the American and Congolese cultures. Students are to engage in ideas about the roles of wife and women, and the oppressive nature of patriarchy. Predominate in the novel is the role that female circumcision plays in robbing Congolese women of their bodies and voices through culturally imposed expectations. Students will make connections between the varied cultural expectations for both American and Congolese women.
Cultural: Anatole, midway through the novel, tries to enlighten Leah about the people of the Congo who have been oppressed by Belgian rule, “When they are pushed down long enough they will rise up. If they bite you, they are trying to fix things in the only way they know.” (p.134). Kingsolver’s’ novel confronts epic themes such as religion, colonialism and genocide. Thus it is important to point out lessons that all civilizations share a history of oppression and corruption. Sharing this culturally demanding principle with students will free them from the naïveté of their limited experiences. Culturally sensitive teaching points might focus on comparisons between the United States militarily engaging Kuwait, and Iraq, spreading to larger ideas of the significance of proponents for war. While culturally astute teaching points may arise from comparing the different ways of living, leading into a discussion ranging from the specific cultural foods, to religious practices, to ideas about family, all fitting the framework of cultural perspective. Further, political, economic and religious systems are all potential issues of cultural critique.
Textual: Three main layers envelope the textual writing in the story, including but not limited to themes of Africa, narration, and biblical allusions. During the introduction of this novel to the class it would be imperative to focus on the history of Africa and its brutal dealings with colonialism throughout its history (look at geographical and map sources concerning the Congo in the 1950’s and late 1960’s). Secondly, students will need to pay close attention to the actual narration of the novel as it jostles between five different accounts of the story at hand. Kingsolver narrates using descriptive language and a mastery of allusions. She combines both historical and biblical allusions to make the thoughts of the characters accessible. For example, in the beginning chapter entitled, “Book 1: Genesis – The Things We Carried” Ruth Mays first narration states, “Jimmy Crow says that, and he makes the laws” (P.20.). The potential of immediate character development and further ideas in relation to time and place become evident. Lastly, ideas surrounding plays on biblical language and language in general protrude throughout the novel, as the stubborn Nathan Price, himself refusing to learn the language of the culture he endures, ironically preaches every week that “Jesus is a fatal Poisonwood Tree,” when he in fact means to be saying that “Jesus is dearly beloved.” Thus, there is a vast amount of resources available from which to choose textual analysis and reveal historical significance.
c) There are two main challenges that one might encounter with a text like The Poisonwood Bible: The first is all the introductory work that is necessary to prepare the student for the 300+ page novel that they will be reading. African History, Biblical History, and even biographical information about Barbara Kingsolver will be necessary to supplement for the students understanding before they can be placed in a good space from which to read the novel. At least one class should be spent on each of the above entities before actually having students dive into the novel. Secondly, the actual language in the text will have students running to grab their dictionaries. This is why students will need to make their own glossary of literary terms as well as add any other words that they do not understand. However, being proactive, and engaging in a proper set-up to introduce the novel, combined with a productive way to gage textual understanding, will help to stunt such challenges as they arise.
d) One ongoing assignment that I want to use with my students is to have them write character journals for each of the seven chapters of the novel. Each student will choose a specific character from which to narrate their thoughts and feelings during specific points in the novel. The character journal is a viable option for promoting responses to literature. It therefore encourages adolescents to assume the role of a plethora of characters and to compose written responses that reflect engaged reading and understanding while at the same time gaining insight into their own identity. In this way students will have to hand in all seven of their character journals with the criteria that each character journal must have the experience of a new character, and without repeating a character. Character journals will cover the specific expectations outlined in Reading and Literature Studies. The following are a list of the combined specific expectations that would be covered during implementation of this activity: 1.4 Making Inferences, 1.6 Analyzing Texts, 1.7 Evaluating Texts, 1.8 Critical Literacy, and 3.3 Developing Vocabulary. Lastly, this type of assignment is a great way to foster imagination, creativity and voice within students.
Sources Cited
Hancock, R. Marjorie. Character Journals: Initiating involvement and identification through literature. Journal of Reading 37:1, September 1993. International Reading Association.
Kingsolver, Barabara. The Poisonwood Bible: 1998 HarperCollins, New York
P.L. Thomas. Reading, Learning,Teaching Barbara Kingsolver: 2005 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. New York.