Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses that in "The Poisonwood Bible", Barbara Kingsolver uses Biblical references to delineate the differences in her characters' relationship to religious faith as they deal with their father's participation in the Western assault on the Congolese. The paper author believes that these differences in levels of faith are Kingsolver's primary method of characterization in the novel. The paper presents each character and concludes that while the final images of light contain some Biblical flavor, the dense allusions of the earlier part of the novel are lost; and a kind of secular hopefulness remains in the survivors.

From the Paper:

"In "The Revelation," Leah experiences her first "stirring of anger" against her father, but is still faithful to her image of her father and the Bible. She earnestly remarks that "The Lord is our Shepherd and the very least we sheep can do is keep up with the flock." By likening herself to one of the sheep, she describes herself as a noncritical believer and literal follower of her father's teachings. She also suggests the similarity she experiences between her father and Jesus. More broadly, her remark shows that she continues to analogize aspects of her life to Biblical sayings and events."

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