The Poisonwood Bible

The Poisonwood Bible
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, is about a missionary family, the Price family; who moves from Georgia, in the United States, to a tiny remote village in the BelgianCongo, Kilanga in late1959 with the purpose of establishing a fully immersed Baptist church. The novel occurs just before and after the Congolese independence.
The Price’s experiment a drasticchange, from a big urban city, to a place where “every space is filled with life” (5). Everything was surrounded by nature, no streets, no cars, no buildings, just nature. Much of the story centers inthe Price home, partly surrounded by jungle and the Kwilu River nearby.
The villagers lived surrounded by nightmares, diseases, hunger, economical issues, oppression, religious confusion, amongseveral others that made devastating the situation in Kilanga.
During the Congolese independence, things gradually get worse. Many people died, it was a “terrible time, drought left so many withoutfood“(327). The devastating economical and political conditions ended with a lot of innocent lives, suffering between families, irreparable damages and desperation between people.
“Congo was a woman inshadows, dark hearted, moving to a drum beat”. (495)

Orleanna Price
Orleanna Price, a strong, loving woman was borne in the United States in 1926. She grew up in a wealthy family withold-fashioned traditions and a protective and controlling father. Her mother died when she was still a young girl so she grew up without a mother’s love. Even though this painful event Orelanna was happy as achild. She was wild, beautiful, passionate and in love with nature.

At seventeen her days of freedom came to an end. She married Nathan Price, a passionate missionary man blindly involved with God.As Nathan Price was always with a sense of guilt Orleanna trying to fill the hole she had in her life, gave birth to three children in the space of two years, the first one Rachel Price, then the...