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Emily Partrich - Narrative Structure of The Poisonwood Bible - 18 March 2014

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbra Kingsolver is a moralistic story with a

uniquely complex structure that reinforces the elaborate plot line. Kingsolver tells
the story through the point of view of ve different narrators which allows readers to
have an all encompassing point of view throughout the entire novel. This both
impedes and claries the message of the novel and forces readers to make
judgements about the validity of the story on their own as they observe each
characters description of events. Kingsolver also breaks the book up into seven
different sections, allowing a break in the plot line of the story and a lengthening of time.
Kingsolvers decision to use a different character to narrate each chapter both
positively and negatively affects the overall message of the book. This narration
complicated the plot line of the novel through the detailed discussion of an event
by one character and an omission of that seemingly important event by another.
For example, many of Rachels chapters in book three were of her relationship with
Axelroot but Adahs chapters focused on the social aspect of the village and the
relationships between the villagers; two completely different topics. Also, the
complexly narrated village hunt was described so drastically different by each of
the characters which emphasized the chaos of the hunt itself. Rachel narrated the
whole experience through a frightened, angered tone while Leah described it using an
eager, prideful tone. As each character describes their experiences the reader forms a
broader view of the Congo and is able to create their own image of the Kilanga village
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and Price family. This type of narration can also be helpful in piecing together
information.
The division of the novel into seven smaller sections, or books, plays a large role
in the deliverance of Kingsolvers overall message. The rst four books take place in the
Kilanga and are solely about the day-to-day lives of the Price family. This allows for a
message of ignorance and dependency to be clearly evident through the familys daily
struggles and triumphs. In books ve, six, and seven Orleanna and her daughters move
out of Kilanga and the narration skips from being days and weeks apart to being years
apart. This sharp change in narration alludes to the sharp change of the Price
family lifestyle. The story is no longer told in the traditional week-by-week style of
the rest of the book but rather it jumps between years randomly, emphasizing the
maturity and growth of the Price daughters and their separation from the life they
once knew.
The narrative style of The Poisonwood Bible is insightful. Barbra Kingsolver
uses a different character to narrate each chapter which greatly enhances the readers
ability to come to their own conclusions and grasp the overall message of the novel.
The separation of the book into seven sections proves to benet and slightly hinder the
authors message as the time between each chapter increases towards the end of the
novel.