The Poisonwood Bible Notes

Themes

-          Power corrupts and blinds those who cannot control it

-          We must learn to accept and live with our sorrows, pains, and mistakes

-          Religion does not necessarily take the shape of one Being, it can be found in every aspect of nature and life

-           The boundary between death and life can be blurred

*The poisonwood represents all the damage that was inflicted on the Congo *

Book One- Genesis

-          Opens with the voice of Orleanna Price addressing someone(later learned that it was Ruth May), reminiscing the past with a guilty conscience 

-          “two blondes – the one short and fierce, the other tall and imperious – flanked by matched brunettes like bookends”

-          Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May narrate the story as it occurs

-          Brought to Africa by their Baptist father on a mission to save “lost souls”

-          Carry with them many items which they feel will be necessary; soon realize that they are truly useless burdens

-          Villagers welcome them warmly but soon become wary of Nathan; the Africa scene is horrendous to Rachel

-          Adah born with hemiplegia; crooked, reserved, and “slow” however she is exceptionally intelligent and observant  (palindromes)

-           Leah devotion to her father is apparent from the beginning; she strives to please him

-          Nathans unwillingness to adapt to their traditions and forms of living is first seen with the garden incident

-          Orleanna’s hard work is constantly overlooked and ignored by Nathan whom can only think in his endeavors

-          Despite hardships that the villagers face they continue to work for their survival (physically disabled are not treated differently); their bodies are their only tools

-          Nathan rules his family with intimidation, fear, and punishment

-          Mama Tataba leaving foreshadows the impending doom for the Price family

Book Two- The Revelation

-          Orleanna opens up each section retelling the struggles of her past

-          The narrative of the five women serve to give us the different perspectives and thoughts of each of them, we are able to learn about each of them

-          Nathan refuses to adapt and change his opinions; even the chief learns to dislike him

-          Ruth May is the first to interact with the children, eager to lead

-          The conflicts currently occurring in the Congo are beginning to be seen i.e. the anti- Belgian forces and the diamonds Ruth May sees

-          The interference of the West brings many conflicts, clandestine affairs

-          Nathan doesn’t see Lumumba as a threat, acts as if he is a trifling problem

-          Anatole is seen as mysterious and educated; holds the family in a trance (angers Nathan)

-          First hints that Nathan beats and abuses his family (after incident with Anatole)

-           Incident with Adah and the lion show how eager Tata Ndu is to see the gods punish the Prices; also serves to emphasize the guilt that lives in the relationship btwn Leah and Adah

-          Leah is baffled by the intelligence that both Nelson and Anatole display, feels it won’t help them in them in their futures; not allowed to pursue education

-          Hold on to their traditions headfast (hopechests) Leah finds it useless

-          Owl also serves as foreshadowing, eats dead souls of children; also serves as the point in the story where Leah distances herself from Nathan

-          Underdown’s come with news of the independence of Congo, advise the Prices to leave the country but of course Nathan is obstinate

-          Nathan does not really care about the souls he wants to save nor about the safety of his family, he only cares about the “desire” of his God

-          Adah notices that Tata Kuvundu is leaving dark magic at their doorstep in hopes that they will leave

-          Leah witnesses Lumumba take power and is captivated by his personality, begins to understand the turmoil the Congo has been in

-          The death of Methuselah can symbolize the Congo’s fate after “independence”

Book Three- The Judges

-          Orleanna felt as if she couldn’t leave Nathan and bound herself to him when she was innocent; Nathan is trying to redeem his past cowardice by carrying out what he believes is God’s will

-          Prices find themselves with scant money and food; Orleanna and Ruth May are sick

-          Poor villagers provide the family with materials to survive, shocks Leah (they feel it is their duty to share any excess they may have, even if they are starving)

-          The girls are finally standing up to Nathans authority

-          Brother Fowles shows up to visit, extremely opposite to Nathan; God is in the Creation, found in nature; assimilates to African culture

-          Ruth May gets worse (malaria) ; Tata Ndu wants to marry Rachel, gets engaged with Axelroot

-          The more time Leah spends with Anatole the more he opens her eyes to reality and to love

-          He makes Leah think deeper and understand subjects otherwise misinterpreted

-          We discover Axelroot is a mercenary, planning to murder Lumumba

-          Ant crisis causes Orleanna to choose btwn Ruth May and Adah; Adah feels worthless and alone

Book Four- Bel and the Serpent

-          We learn just how involved the US was in the problems with Congo, basically in charge

-          The people of Kilanga choose they do not want Jesus, they vote democratically

-          Leah causes more tumult when she wants to hunt animals with the men, Tata Kuvundu warns the villagers that only bad will come out of this, the villagers vote yes

-          Leah openly defies Nathan; evil signs are found outside of Anatole and the Prices huts

-          The aftermath of the hunt is disastrous, warning seems to come true

-          Evil sign found outside chicken coup, the girls find out it was Tata Kuvundu; green mamba snake inside the coup kills Ruth May

-          Orleanna does not  break down but knows that she must keep moving in order to remain sane; Nathan only cared that she wasn’t baptized

-          Orleanna gets rid of ell her possessions, realizes that they hold no worth anymore

-          After a long drought if finally begins to rain and Nathan takes advantage of that to baptize all the children

Book Five- Exodus

-          The Price women finally leave Kilanga w/o Nathan; Leah gets malaria in Bulungu and cannot go farther

-          Rachel leaves with Axelroot on his plane and Orleanna and Adah leave by boat

-          Anatole takes care of Leah, love overtakes them and Leah decides to stay

-          Rachel leads an happy life in Johannesburg in white class society; Orleanna and Adah go back to Georgia

-          Orleanna devotes herself to gardening to keep her mind off of Ruth May while Adah decides to go to medical school

-          Anatole gets arrested for his pro- Lumumba activities and Leah has to wait in a French mission

-          Rachel goes from husband to husband; Anatole is released and they move to Atlanta with their new son Pascal (find the luxuries ridiculous)

-          Adah discovers her limp is only out of habit and makes a complete recovery, sometimes misses the old Adah

-          The value of worth is significant to Adah and she cannot stop thinking about the incident with Orleanna

-          Mobutu serves as the puppet of the US and leads to country into more poverty, Leah faces much turmoil with guilt

-          They try to move to the US but are not comfortable, on the way back Anatole is arrested again

-          The differences btwn Rachel and Leah are apparent, cannot agree on any subject

-          The death of Nathan is revealed to them; he went in all his fiery glory (burned)

-          Leah and Anatole hope to move to Angola; the nation continues to be in shambles

Book 6 and 7- Song of the Three Children and The Eyes in the Trees

-          Rachel has created a life she can deal with in Africa, one where she ignores everything that happens around her and focuses only on herself

-          Believes that when you stand up yourself you get crushed, you must let others work for you

-          Leah lives in Angola with Anatole and are sufficiently happy there, although they often dream of the past Africa

-          Still yearns for a place to belong where the color of her skin won’t matter

-          “… and I understand that time erases whiteness altogether.”

-          Adah leaves medicine for she views death as natural and viruses as having the right to share the world with us

-          The last chapter is told by Ruth May after death

-          Tells that every life is touched by one another, some die so that some can live

-          Book ends with Ruth May’s forgiveness towards her mother

-          “You are afraid you might forget, but you never will. You will forgive and you will remember… Walk forward into the light.”