Journal;Poisonwood Bible

The Poisonwood Bible written by Barbara Kingsolver is a tale of an American missionary family in the Congo, during the controversial years following World War II. The reader is able to see most every side to the story due to the chapters that are told from the different view points of the Price children and Orleanna. The only family member whose mind is not opened for the reader is Nathan, who is viewed from the second person and second hand accounts of his family, perhaps because Nathan does not even have a grip on his own mind himself.

Kingsolver is telling the story of corruption; the corrupt mind of Nathan, and how his zeal destroyed the faith of his family, excluding Adah, who already lost what little faith a child has. Nathan’s zeal caused him to forget the parable of the sower; “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 13: 3-9. Nathan fails to see that Africa is a rocky land sprouting thorns to house birds. The Word of God as most Christians view it is not well received. There are no roots to take hold, tradition and customs choke it out, and it almost seems that it is fated for the seeds to be eaten by the endless organized chaos that is Africa.

Many people have read The Poisonwood Bible, and denounced it as atheist, as opposing the Christian God. This is not true. The Poisonwood Bible is not atheist; by far it is the opposite.

Read from the perspective of a Christian, the novel may be the tale of the dangers of zealots, and how they can destroy the faith of not only possible converts but also of their own families. Nathan’s blind zeal combined with the revelations of Africa caused the destruction of the faith held by his wife and daughters.

By the conclusion The Poisonwood Bible also clearly states a belief in God, only not bound by the egotistic human nature that is found in most major religions. It states (in Adah’s opinion) that God does not want only mankind to win; “Now I understand, God is not just rooting for the dollies. [humans]” 529. God put creation into a state where all of the created are in constant conflict and competition so they may run their course of evolving, epitomizing, and falling into entropy. Therefore the human belief that we are above all else is wrong. God placed humans as the humble servants of Earth, not the righteous and rightful conquerors. Over time we failed that duty, and are now condemned to Hell on Earth. The animals never disobeyed God, to our knowledge, and therefore needed no saviour. Humans however have and continue to, thus the Saviour is needed. If anything, humans are below animals, thus why we receive special attention. That and without guidance, we would destroy the competition God created.