Meek AP Lit

I appreciate the author’s style throughout the novel. She is able to change her voice to fit the perspective of each chapter, as it shifts between the sisters and Orleanna. She doesn't just change her own language and that of the character's to match their descriptions and mannerisms, but their habits , their demeanors, their thoughts, and reactions. Because she is embodying so many different characters, she has to cultivate a unique characterization for each of them. I think that the inner monologues all fit their character seamlessly, as if five different authors were inhabiting the roles of the girls. The author is able to blend each character into the story as an individual, and eventually we come to a point where readers have enough knowledge to gain insight with each characters’ monologue.  Many times before I've critiqued a book for a lack of individuality in the voice's of different perspectives. While the author clearly shines as Orleanna and uses Leah ...

The mother is one of the most important characters from The Poisonwood Bible. At first, she seems to be an underwhelming character who blends into her role in the family. She fits into this box of a reluctantly obedient, simple wife of the Reverend, and she was first introduced through her subtle nagging throughout the packing process. She was a southern belle, with a heavy accent and an overuse of the word sugar. Even the Underdowns seemed condensing and unimpressed with the family, and mocked the mother’s accent. The Poiosnwood bible is centered around female characters, and only told in a female perspective. The role of a religious wife becomes increasingly conflicting with that of a mother. She has to choose whether she wants to save her kids from the congo and their father, or stay faithful. She seems to be a platonically religious person who involves herself in the mission only because it was her husband's wish. She pays for this dearly in the end as Nathan's zealotr...

In one of the first chapters from five-year-old Ruth she points out that there are only 6 white people in the village of Kilanga. She describes the tribesmen as sinners who are the sons of Ham (Ham’s children were cursed to be slaves—“that’s why they are so dark.” It is an important voice for the author to use when trying to express the racial tensions in this time period, because Ruth is the perspective of a young, impressionable child. Ruth is saying these things to the readers (not out loud) and does so with no aggression or hostility. She says it as fact, and explains that it is the word of God. She completely believes that segregation is put into practice for a reason and that her race was biologically and religiously created differently than the Congolese, because that is what she is told. She does not hold the same responsibility of an adult, who can form an opinion for themselves (whether they are religious or not).  She does not say these things from a place of ange...

The front cover for The Poisonwood bible has an image of a tree against a red-orange background. The sky behind the tree is such a deep color that it is not assumed to be realistic. However, throughout the whole story there is extensive imagery about this dusty climate with the red sun watching over them. When they get out of the helicopter, the author describes the sun as foreign from their sun at home, an entity in itself that greets (and shocks) the family as the villagers did. It makes the sisters feel like they have completely left the world behind and were on another planet, and in a way, they have. The story unfolds in the beginning by a carefully constructed list of all the items they were taking, such as Betty Crocker cake mixes. They have left their entire life behind; the societal norms they are used to, their church, their school, and their home. They are essentially entering a ‘new world’ that is completely unknown to them. In Kilanga, they can’t imagine having shelve...

The Poisonwood Bible is centered around serious topics, including imperialism, racism, and violence. Poisonwood deals with these issues by introducing them into the conversations and showing them through the eyes of the participants, especially that of the white missionaries. Another topic that is depicted through the father’s early conversations with his family is sexism and anapirism- discrimination against people with disability. There are moments when religion is used as a way to isolate and put down the daughters' efforts in education. Clearly, the trip to the Congo was prioritized over their continued education in Georgia, and they knowing travelled somewhere without teachers, papers, and books—minus the bible of course. When Ada and Leah were noticed by their principal to be gifted, the Reverend simply rolled his eyes, which was taken as a normal reaction from him to a girl (even his daughter) furthering her education.  The Reverend also warned them against going to c...