Barbara Kingsolver’s writing in The Poisonwood Bible is more than mere historical fiction. It is true that Poisonwood is set in a past time, but the work’s themes of difference in society, adaptation and change, and levels of apathy transcend chronological boundaries; making the novel a true piece of literature. The timelessness of the subject is what makes a written work a piece of art, and this novel’s themes are as true today as they were a thousand years ago.
The differences in social beliefs vary wildly across ethnic, racial and geographical boundaries. These differences can become so extreme as to cause confusion and even physical violence. The British Admiral who refused to kowtow to the Chinese Emperor comes to mind as one of these cultural misunderstandings gone awry; eventually leading to war. Despite the many differences, there seem to be several general aspects of society shared by nearly all, chief among them being religion. The Price family, especially Nathan, is deeply religious. Unfortunately Nathan fails to realize how deeply religious the Congolese already are. Nathan’s forcing of his brand of religion upon the Congolese and constant obsession of their baptism causes great strain on their relationshi

onship. The Congolese fear the water and its crocodiles greatly. They believe Nathan is trying to kill their children when he dunks them into the river. More differences are seen in the way the Congolese practice their religion. They see a higher being influencing everything in their lives; from hunting to farming and even copulation. Nathan, self absorbed as ever, does not realize the villagers’ pre-existing devotion to God, and can only focus on changing the African peoples to worship as he does. He only understands his own organized religion, and prefers it practiced in a church. Nathan and his daughter Leah also have a problem with their garden. They plant it in their traditional American way and when their cook and servant tries to fix it by building it in mounds they ostracize her and go back to doing it their way. When the great rains come their garden is ruined and they are forced to start again. Although each of these characters displays varying levels of inability to adapt to a new culture, perhaps no one has a harder time with the cultural and societal differences than Rachel Price. She portrays the epitome of a xenophobic, narrow minded American.

Apathy to empathy, change and adaptation and the differences between societies are not relevant to a single period of time or place but to all times and all places. Humankind is defined by these aspects of the novel and our lives. Societies may be different, but we can learn to live together through change by all involved and empathy for others. To continue on we must see as they see, or as the old adage goes, “Walk a mile in another man’s shoes.”

Empathy and apathy, these two words are separated by only a few letters, yet to change from an apathetic person to an empathetic one is a struggle and an accomplishment. The four daughters are weak in character when they first arrive in the Congo. Rachel cares nothing for the people, calling them savages and refusing to eat their food. She is vain and complains about not having her cosmetic indulgences with her. Leah cares not for the people themselves, but only of her father’s mission to save their souls. Adah could care less about anyone. She is so caught up in her own world of misery and snide remarks that she fails to see anyone else’s pain but her own. Ruth May is only five so she has an excuse to not have an empathetic view of the world, but she is the first to find friendship in the Congo. Ruth May’s death helpe