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Asked by: Pearly Pavlichenko
hobbies and interests beekeepingWhy is it called The Poisonwood Bible?
Why do you think the book is called The Poisonwood Bible? If spoken slowly, the word means "dearly beloved." If spoken quickly, it refers to the Poisonwood tree, a local plant that can cause painfully swelling if it is touched, and death if its wood is burned and the smoke inhaled.
In respect to this, what does the title of The Poisonwood Bible mean?
The novel got its title from Nathan Price's error in his sermon: "Tata Jesus is bangala," a word that could mean precious, but pronounced the way he said it meant "poisonwood." That is a perfect title; it is exactly what this book is about -- the way certain things get lost in the translation between cultures.
Just so, what is the purpose of the Poisonwood Bible?
The Poisonwood Bible is a political allegory. Though the story it tells focuses on the guilt of five women, for example their private guilt over the death of a daughter and sister, and their public guilt over the role they played in Africa's tragedies, it is really about the guilt that all United States citizens share.
The Poisonwood Bible (1998), by Barbara Kingsolver, is a best-selling novel about a missionary family, the Prices, who in 1959 move from the U.S. state of Georgia to the village of Kilanga in the Belgian Congo, close to the Kwilu River.