The Poisonwood Bible

1. The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver

2. Genesis 1:28 • 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

3. Define genesis. What application to this story do you see?

4. What part of the Genesis quotation do you think Orleanna’s story will emphasize?

5. Often, Africa is described in terms of its lush jungle growth. Find at least ten phrases that show Orleanna’s impressions to be the opposite of abundant beauty.

6. What has brought the Price family to Africa?

7. What does the following phrase tell you about the stories the four girls will tell? • “Even now they resist affinity like cats in a bag.”

8. From Orleanna’s imagining that the Portuguese sailors went on instead of landing in Africa, what do you think she feels about the white man’s coming to that continent? What does her description of the wild okapi and the museum okapi reveal?

9. Briefly research the animal known as the okapi. From what Orleanna says about the animal and what you have found, what do the okapi and the woman have in common?

10. As Orleanna thinks back on her life in Africa, she writes, “one has only a life of one’s own.” Then she goes on to speak of “walking free in a white skin” and “profiteers who’ve since walked out of Africa.” How are these quotations connected? What broad application might they have in terms of individual and international repsonsibility?

11. What kind of wife and mother does Orleanna appear to be if this chapter gives a true picture of her?