The Poisonwood Bible

Leah and Reverend Price return to Kilanga without any money as they have been cut off from the Mission’s stipends and had to bribe Mr. Axelroot to fly them back. The locals are shocked and confused to learn that the white family no longer has money. With the benefit of experience, Leah looks back on the welcome feast the inhabitants of the village had offered the Price family when they had arrived and sees it as overwhelmingly generous.

At home, Orleanna and Ruth May rarely get out of bed. Nelson informs Leah that they have been cursed. Leah explains that, as Christians, they do not believe in curses. Nelson argues that God cursed Job. She insists he was only “testing his faith” and Nelson retorts that God is “testing” the faith of her mother and little sister (208). Leah insists that there is no such thing, indicating disbelief through a Kikongo word which means “we don’t pay for that”; in response, Nelson tells her, “Leba [Leah], the gods you do not pay are the ones that can curse you best” (208).

Adah ruminates on the Kikongo concept of nommo: “Nommo is the force that makes things live as what they are: man or tree or animal. Nommo means word” (209). Adah applies this concept to her own experience as a twin, concluding that she has had her life because she was named Adah and Leah has an entirely different life because she has an entirely different name. When she explains that she is Leah’s twin, Nelson is horrified. In Kilanga, twins are abandoned in the forest to appease the gods. She is surprised to learn that many of the churchgoers are relatives of dead twins, who hope that if they have twin children, Jesus will allow them to keep them.

Similarly, Adah considers that, as Anatole explained during the dinner, the church’s function in the community is to distract the “troublesome elements” such as lepers and social outcasts. She also notes the fact that the families who had attended church and lost children to the diarrhea-inducing disease have returned to ancestor worship, whereas those who lost their children while worshipping their ancestors have begun to try Christianity. The reverend fails to notice these dynamics, certain that he has turned a corner in his quest of conversion. He also fails to notice that he regularly uses Kikongo words incorrectly. Batiza, pronounced one way, means “baptism,” but the reverend often pronounces it in the way which means “to terrify.”

Ruth May states that she and her mother were tired after Leah and the reverend went away and laid down in bed. She tells her mother that she hopes that her father will not come back and they both cry. She does hope that Leah comes back, however. Ruth May considers that her father is a preacher, “So God and them love him the best” (215). She dreams of climbing an alligator tree and looking down on the village and being able to see everything her mother thinks “like Jesus does” (216).

Reverend Price ignores the illness of his youngest daughter and his wife. Despite hushed arguments late at night, he states that Orleanna will “heed” the “Lord’s call” and get up soon. With their mother and youngest sister ill, he expects Rachel, Leah, and Adah to feed the family. When they fail to do so, the reverend beats them. They suddenly appreciate the sheer labor hours that their mother put into feed their family. Adah notes the change in their perspective: “Our childhood had passed over into history overnight. The transition was unnoticed by anyone but ourselves” (218). Rachel takes authority as the eldest, but not without mockery, as Adah and Leah have not respected her as an elder since beating her in the school spelling bee in second grade.

Leah takes Ruth-May outside to rally her spirits. Anatole comes with news and a gift of a rabbit in a sack, which he offers to her teasingly. Leah considers his physical and mental qualities, internally acknowledging that she likes him more than she had previously thought. He tells her that Katanga, the province with diamonds, has seceded from the Republic of Congo, resulting in Prime Minister Lumumba requesting an army from the United Nations. As they talk, Leah decides to deviate from her father’s behavior, honestly admitting when she does not know things and internally acknowledging the struggles in their family. While she concedes that she still tries to stay on her father’s side of disagreements, she also confesses that she may have been foolish to believe his claim that America would send aid to sort out the slums in the Congo when slums still exist in Georgia. Leah worries about the potential deaths of her mother and Ruth May. She acknowledges the end of her childhood as she intends to skin the rabbit since no one else will.

In her illness, Ruth May dreams and hallucinates. She overhears her parents arguing as her mother begs for them to be able to leave. She mentions that white people have been robbed, missionaries stripped naked and even killed in Stanleyville, where Ruth May had her arm set in a cast. Rachel also speaks up in favor of leaving, only to be struck to the floor.

Nelson gives Ruth May nkisi, a mystical object which has been in the “magic fire” and will help Ruth May if she is going to die. Instead of dying, the nkisi will make it so she just disappears “for a second” and then turns up somewhere safe that she has thought of every day in preparation (239). She puts it under her pillow for safekeeping.

While Ruth May remains ill, Orleanna begins to recover. She maintains that she will take her children and leave the Congo as soon as she can find a way, despite the reverend’s disapproval. Mr. Axelroot is not yet willing to endanger himself by flying a plane of white women in the current unrest, but he says that he has “his price,” and Leah believes her mother intends to pay whatever it is. Seeing her mother challenge her father’s authority frightens Leah, but it also sparks her own growing concerns that her father may not be the infallible servant of God she has believed him to be:

If his decision to keep us here in the Congo wasn’t right, then what else might he be wrong about? It has opened up in my heart a sickening world of doubts and possibilities, where before I had only faith in my father and love for the Lord. Without that rock of certainty underfoot, the Congo is a fearsome place to have to sink or swim (244).

Brother Fowles returns to Kilanga with his Congolese wife and their children. They now live on a riverboat, though it has amenities which make Rachel jealous. When Reverend Price returns, the two disagree regarding their different interpretations of Christianity. While Reverend Price insists on his emphasis on the judgment of God and validating his authority, Brother Fowles expresses appreciation for the beauty of God’s creation, respect for the original context of verses, and curiosity about their intended meanings. Unable to best Brother Fowles in quoting scripture or make the man feel uncomfortable in the wake of his judgment, Reverend Price leaves the house again.

Brother Fowles’s wife, Celine, gives Orleanna many items, including anti-biotics for Ruth May, and she shares that they have been receiving money from the Methodist Mission and food and medical supplies from the American Baptist Foreign Mission Service (ABFMS). The ABFMS reportedly has a hospital mission where the minister and his wife helped improve the health and literacy of the people around them. When Orleanna expresses hurt that the mission is supplying Brother Fowles but has cut off funding to the Price family, Brother Fowles responds, “For certain, Mrs. Price, there are Christians and there are Christians” (255). Orleanna is also surprised to learn that Brother Fowles had a good relationship with Tata Ndu during his time in Kilanga. He shares that, while Tata Ndu continues to have multiple wives, his conversations over palm wine on the merits of kind treatment led to domestic violence falling out of favor. As a result, Brother Fowles believes that many wives put up altars for Tata Jesus. Orleanna asks if he felt that satisfied by the results of his work. He answers, “We’re branches grafted on this good tree, Mrs. Price. The great root of Africa sustains us. I wish you wisdom and God’s mercy” (258).

Tata Ndu arrives and brings gifts. Reverend Price interprets this as his Christian charity being properly returned seven-fold and claims that he always knew that Tata Ndu would be an ally. In reality, Nelson explains that Tata Ndu is trying to buy Rachel as his seventh wife, believing that her color will somehow “cheer up” his other wives and that Reverend Price will be glad of the goats he will give for her since he no longer has money and his daughters have become too skinny due to his inability to feed his family.

Leah considers the delicate political situation involved with Tata Ndu’s offer to buy Rachel. While the family agrees that the notion is absurd, as the village’s chief, Tata Ndu cannot be ignored or treated poorly. Ruth May continues to worsen. As they move her bed, the notice 61 quinine pills behind it, showing that, during the entire time they have been in Kilanga, she never took her quinine pills to prevent malaria.

The family resolves the situation with Tata Ndu by pretending that Rachel is already engaged to Mr. Axelroot. When he puts his arm around Rachel, she slaps him. To her surprise, he laughs. Since he takes her criticism and bathes, she talks to him in the hopes of convincing him to fly them out of Kilanga. Her mother already offered her wedding ring and a thousand dollars once they get to the states, but Mr. Axelroot insists on cash in advance. Rachel offers stories from Georgia, and Mr. Axelroot claims that he is a “flying fighter” with connections to the CIA. Rachel does not believe him.

Ruth May continues to hallucinate. Tata Ndu tries to convince the Price family that Rachel must undergo what Ruth May hears as “circus mission”: circumcision or female genital mutilation. Orleanna and her husband argue about taking Ruth May to the doctor vs. trusting in the Lord. Orleanna is displeased with the plan to pretend Rachel is engaged to Mr. Axelroot, but the reverend insists that “white people have to stick together now” and that Axelroot is better than Tata Ndu (273). Ruth May recalls Mr. Axelroot beating her and threatening her not to tell about the diamonds. She believes that she is sick because of all the things she has done wrong.

Rachel is frustrated that no one remembers her seventeenth birthday. Her mother eventually does after her hints and gives Rachel her own earrings and bracelet. Rachel appreciates her mother’s efforts and is pleased by the jewelry, but she is annoyed that there are no other celebrations. She also reveals that Anatole has asked Leah to teach mathematics to the young children at the school.

Distrusting his translators, the reverend tries to use more Kikongo words, but he fails to do so correctly. He repeatedly says, “Tata Jesus is bängala!”, which he thinks means “Jesus is precious” but actually means “Jesus is poisonwood” (276). Ruth May recovers from her illness. Leah teaches arithmetic to Anatole’s young students, then learns French and Kikongo from him. He gives her a bow and quiver of red-feathered arrows, which Leah quickly becomes proficient with. The residents of Kilanga disapprove of Leah’s hunting as they consider it a man’s job. Adah is frustrated that Leah refuses to acknowledge that the locals disapprove, insisting that since Anatole gave her the bow and arrows, she must not be flouting any norms: “She fails to see that Anatole is breaking rules for her, and this will have consequences” (278).

Leah is pleased to spend time with Anatole, to whom she is attracted, though she worries that he sees her as a child instead of an equal. She admits that her father’s attempts at evangelism are useless: “My father thinks the Congo is just lagging behind and he can help bring it up to snuff. […] It’s like he’s trying to put rubber tires on a horse” (284).

Anatole still refuses to explain to Leah what Béene-béene, his name for her, means. They discuss her attempts at teaching, her father’s work, and the wider world. Anatole translates her father’s sermons because, as a teacher, it is his job to give the people the options in such a way that they can make an informed decision. While he does not strictly believe her about the existence of grocery stores and that nearly every family in Georgia has an automobile, he is very interested in the concept of a globe once she explains that the world is round. She offers to make him one and is pleased that she is certain he views her as an adult in this moment. Eventually, he explains that Béene-béene means “as true as the truth can be” (287).

Axelroot arrives to pick Rachel up for their fake date. He offers her cigarettes, and she is oddly charmed by his Bogart-like move in lighting a cigarette, then putting it to her own lips for her. She realizes that it is odd for him to have access to cigarettes given the current state of things. He also steals her first kiss, which she is ambivalent about. On the one hand, she thinks he is a creep, but on the other, she likes the attention and feeling grown up. Axelroot tells her that Prime Minister Lumumba is about to be assassinated. He claims to have heard it on his radio that America was paying a million dollars to incite an uprising. Rachel believes he is making it up to impress her and get more kisses.

Adah spies on Mr. Axelroot again and is surprised to see another plane come in and a man, W. I. Rogue, meet secretly in Mr. Axelroot’s house. They speak on the radio about Patrice Lumumba being “as good as dead” and mention “the president” (297). They also discuss “Joe from Paris” bringing a poison that will make Lumumba’s death appear to be caused by a Congolese disease (298). Mr. Axelroot expresses frustration that he is not “running the show” despite his 10 years of experience living in Africa (298).

At night, the nsongonya, driver ants, appear while everyone is asleep. Leah wades through the burning, calf-deep flood of ants, as she and everyone else runs out of their houses to escape it. Anatole appears and asks where her family is. Still half-asleep, Leah remembers that Adah and Ruth May will not be able to escape on their own. Anatole touches her hand and promises to find them. He tells her to stay there until he comes back for her.

Rachel grabs her mirror, her most precious possession, as everyone rushes out to the boats. She is carried away by the crowd, but remembering a strategy from a book, she avoids being trampled. She tries to get in the boat belonging to her neighbor to escape the ants, but they throw her back into the riverbank. The mirror breaks.

Ruth May is frightened by the ants and the screaming. She is separated from her mother, who is going for the boats, when someone Congolese grabs her. She thinks about death and knows where she will go when she dies—she will go to what she considers the safest place, being a green mamba in a tree where she can look down on everybody, including her mother.

Adah wakes to the panic of the ants. Her mother mentions that her father isn’t nearby, but she had hoped he would carry her. She is already carrying Ruth May. Adah says “please,” resulting in a nod and a “come on” thrown over her mother’s shoulder. Adah is unable to keep up with her mother in the crowd and is trampled on. Her mother chooses to protect Ruth May instead of Adah. Anatole saves her and helps her into a boat with her mother. Adah’s introspection of the events show that she considers this moment to be the halfway point of her life and that she is now descending towards death.

Anatole reappears with Ruth May over his shoulder and pulls Leah into a boat. He tells her that all her family members, including Adah, are alright. Leah wonders God caused the ants. Anatole explains that the ants are only trying to solve their problems as best they can, and biting is all they know how to do. Leah sees a connection between his defense of the ants and his revolutionary and anti-white views. She says that Anatole is “a revolutionary like the Jeune Mou Pro” and that he “believes in what they’re doing to the whites” (308). He argues that things are not so simple and that this is not the right moment to discuss such things. Leah informs him of what Adah has overheard regarding plans to kill Prime Minister Lumumba, but he does not react beyond insisting that this moment is not the time to talk.

Still in the throes of fear and shock, Leah says that she wants to be righteous and for God to walk with her through the valley of the shadow of death, but she does not see God in the boat. Anatole warns her not to “make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal” (309). Leah feels that he considers her faith in justice as childish and useless as her father’s beliefs about saving the Congo. She says he thinks that her family never should have come. His answer is not what she hopes for: “No, you shouldn’t. but you are here, so yes, you should be here. There are more words in the world than no and yes” (310). Leah says that no one but him cares about them, but Anatole argues, explaining that the neighbors are taking her family across the river and that Mama Mwanza sneaks her own eggs into their chicken shed. “You shouldn’t have come here, Béene, but you are here and nobody in Kilanga wants you to starve. They understand that white people make very troublesome ghosts” (310). Leah says that she is frightened to death and that he is the only one who will talk to her. When she says that she loves him, he tells her not to say that ever again.