NOTES FOR "THE POISONWOOD BIBLE"

SUMMARY: The story starts off with a scene where four daughters are following a mother. Then the story goes deeper as to what happened with the five of them. Nathan Price, the father of the family, brought the entire family from the U.S. to Africa for a missionary project. The family faced so many problems from getting enough food to fighting deadly diseases but the father did not budge. The story ended where the youngest of the daughter dies, the eldest owns a hotel, and the twins - one marries a native and the other moves back and obtains higher education.

LANGUAGE: The author writes with a day to day vocabulary and syntax. Along with day to day speech, the author does include the dialect from Africa, while explaining the meaning of each word and phrase.

MAJOR CHARACTERS:

• Nathan Price: Extremely controlling; believes that the "less fortunate" need to be "purified" by converting to Christianity; loved nothing and no one but his own pride and respect; as his wife tells his background and his story, it becomes clear that he's a self devoting man who's nothing but a coward; refuses to accept the world as it truly is.
• Orleanna Price: Introduced as very inferior to husband Nathan; fights against her wish to hang on while the necessity to let go; used to be free spirited and joyful but ended up being depressed and filled with guilt.
• Rachel Price: Obsessed with outer and physical beauty instead of inner beauty; takes every part of stay in Congo in a negative view point; married twice to thrice in order to achieve the materialistic life that she dreams.
• Leah Price: Always looked up to her father (if not practically worshiped him) and wished to please him in whatever that she did; adapted to the environment of Congo extremely well; extremely intelligent, honest and full of love and care.
• Adah Price: The "disabled" twin of Leah; always loved to read and write forward and backward; turned out towards the end, she wasn't crippled but her and her mom's fears led her to be so; admires the outer beauty in the world and so decides to study further.
• Ruth May Price: The youngest of them all and the most innocent; had no problems becoming one of the "Congolese"; died by a snake bite before much of her characteristics were revealed.

THEMES:

• The biggest theme is people being culturally intolerable towards each other.
• Another is the necessity to have a positive attitude towards the events taking place in one's life and make it beneficial by adapting.