What do the ants represent in the Poisonwood Bible?

What do the ants represent in the Poisonwood Bible?

In Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, the ants represent the frightening power of nature.

What does Poisonwood represent?

In The Poisonwood Bible, the poisonwood tree is a symbol of the Price’s stubbornness and the danger of their religious convictions. The parrot Methsualah is a symbol for the Congo, which is unable to take care of itself and is exploited by others once it is set free.

What happens to Nathan in Poisonwood Bible?

They tried to chase him out of the village, but he resisted and ended up being surrounded in a watchtower. The villagers set fire to the tower and he burned to death. Later, when she returns to the states, Adah tells Orleanna about Nathan’s death.

Who is Axelroot in The Poisonwood Bible?

Eeben Axelroot is just as greasy and grimy as the “axle” that’s almost in his name. This pilot takes every opportunity he can to maximize his own profits, regardless of the expense to others: He sells the Prices their mail, “demanding money for things that were already ours” (2.

What happens to Adah in the ant infestation?

Adah gets trampled by the villagers fleeing Kilanga. On the ground, she’s covered in ants—”Ants on my earlobes, my tongue, my eyelids” (3.21. 13).

What happens to Rachel in the ant infestation?

Rachel’s only thoughts during the ant crisis are for herself. She attempts to force her way onto one of their neighbor’s boats, and is shoved off. When she is flung to the ground she loses her most prized possession, the one object she thought to take with her as they fled the house, her mirror.

What happens Methuselah?

Methuselah lived until the ark was built, but died before the flood, since God had promised he would not be killed with the unrighteous. The Sefer haYashar gives Methuselah’s age at death as 960.

Is Nathan Price abusive?

Abusive and fanatical, Nathan Price is a Baptist minister who lives unswervingly by his own rigid and simplistic moral code. As a soldier during World War II, Nathan escaped the Battaan Death March, and the almost certain death it brought with it, by sheer chance.

What does Nathan Price symbolize?

Nathan Price represents the destructive side of the religion, the side that comes out when people impose their beliefs on others and think they’re absolutely right about everything, even things they know nothing about… like living in the jungles of the Congo.

Where does Mr Axelroot live?

He serves as Nathan’s translator in church and also becomes a family friend, attempting to teach the Price family about Congolese customs. Axelroot is an American pilot living in the Congo who secretly works for the CIA. He helps Rachel escape from the Congo and they live together, but he will not marry her.

Who are the Underdowns?

The Underdowns are like the English-speaking welcome wagon to the Congo when the Prices arrive to take over the mission in Kilanga villages.

Posted In Q&A