Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible

The novel, The Poisonwood Bible opens with a narrative directive to get the reader to use their imagination to imagine the setting, so he/she can know where the story is about to take place. This suggests that the novel is about to have a lot of events unfolding and they are going to be important because the author wants the reader to picture everything that is happening. Orleanna Price’s narration uses “you” in her storytelling, which the “you” refers to Ruth May Price because she blames herself for Ruth May’s death. Orleanna alludes to the great disasters of an apocalypse and a darkness moving upon the face of the waters. She seems to be telling the story looking back on her time in Africa because she is trapped in the past, whereas the other girls are not. This is because Orleanna is haunted by her experiences in Africa. Barbara Kingsolver uses voice to characterize each sister by making them each have their own individual voice. For example, it is easy to differentiate Ruth May’s voice because she has a child-like voice and is often questioning everything. In my opinion, Leah Price’s voice is the most compelling to me. It is because Leah worships her father and is the only one to do so. She …show more content…
The oldest daughter Leah alludes to Leah who is considered the child-bearer of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.They were both neglected because Nathan did not think his mission is to show attention to his daughter, whereas Leah in the Bible was neglected by her family because they thought she was the least attractive of her two siblings. Leah also has a sister named Rachel. Leah is one of Jacob’s two wives, but Jacob originally wanted to marry Rachel, which causes a rivalry between the sisters. Adah compares to Adah in the Bible because they both feel like outcasts and are left behind. The youngest Price is associated with Ruth from the Bible because they are friendly and can make friends