When a novel contains themes of ethics or morality, there are two ways of reading it: It is either read for its ethical value or it is perceived as ethics. In The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver has used religion in her novel in such a way that it can indeed be regarded as ethics. As a novelist and political writer, Kingsolver has had her fair share of controversies. Kingsolver’s novel is a splendid model to understand how a work of fiction may serve as a valuable illustration of narrative as ethics. When reading Kingsolver’s novel, there comes a point where no longer matters whether or not it is good fiction. The fact that “serious ethical criticism cannot be divorced . . . from political criticism” (Booth, 1989, p.12) is exemplified by the novel. The questions of what makes a “Good Christian” and what makes a “Good American” have been intertwined in the book.
Through her novel, Kingsolver forces her readers to confront whether religious beliefs can be rightfully imposed on a culture which clearly cannot comprehend them, and whether the American government can rightfully assassinate the leader of another country. She challenges her readers through her characters to figure out whether either circumstance is culpable or justifiable. These valid ethical questions are especially relevant in Kingsolver’s novel because a considerably great number of readers have read and continue to read it. Perhaps the main reason behind this significant moral relevance of the questions of what is Good and Right is because this novel is set in the common American society. Despite the reality of the lives of her characters in Congo who have their own agendas, the novel still has a subtext that depends upon the reader’s ethical engagement of the work. The possibility of a Universal morality has been subtly explored in the novel.
In The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver furiously accuses Western and post colonialism to be overbearingly proud and greedy within the cultural context. Kingsolver has embodied the excessive Western pride and self-confidence in the character of Nathan Price, who pursues his missionary ardor and fervor to replace the ancient traditions of the Congo with his personal religious beliefs without any dissent or doubt. Yet, Kingsolver marks almost all of the non-African characters in her book by this fault in at least some section of the novel. From the fact that Leah Price initially wholeheartedly believes her father’s mission, to the Underdowns who patronize racism, all of the characters come over to Africa confident that they way of life they are brining is superior. However, in Kingsolver’s novel, it is the United States government that is most dangerously culturally arrogant because it feels it is its legal right to assistant the president of a foreign nation and replace him with a puppet ruler.
Although the story that Kingsolver is telling in her novel revolves the guilt of five women, it can actually be considered a political allegory. For instance, they personally feel guilty over the death of daughter and sister, and they are publicly guilty of playing a role in the tragedies in Africa. Kingsolver is actually alluding to the guilty shared by all American citizens. Kingsolver poses the question: What role in the U.S. play in the Congo, and how Americans should respond to this fact. She also raises the question of “how should guilty people live with the burden?” but she does not provide a single right answer. By doing this, Kingsolver avoids being viewed as narrow-minded and making her novel dull. Perhaps this is why Kingsolver choose to have five separate narrators in her novel who tell the story.
All of the narrators in the novel represent a different answer to the question of “how should guilty people live with the burden?” that is raised by Kingsolver. For instance, For instance, Orleanna Price remains completely passive to the burden of her guilt or Rachel Price nonchalantly refuses to even accept the burden of her guilt. However, apart from these extremes there is also Leah Price who attempts to bear the burden by responding with political activism, trying to right the wrongs in the world, and Adah Price who attempts to bear the burden through science, by trying to make sense and understand the world on its most basic level. Even the deceased Ruth May, because of whose death these five women feel guilty, represents an answer to the question, i.e. bearing the burden through all-accepting spirituality. These five responses that Kingsolver presents in her novel are not only options of responding toward guilt, they are merely five possibilities.
What distinguishes The Poisonwood Bible from other similar works of literature and what makes this novel a particular representative of ethical narratives is the fact that Barbara Kingsolver has actually used the Bible and religion within her novel. One of thing that is present in this novel but cannot be found in philosophy classes and religious texts is the possibility for moral discourse. Kingsolver has achieved this by intertwining ethics, religion, and the Bible in her novel. By doing this, Kingsolver has also created a work of literature which makes it much easier to confront difficult topics (Nussbaum, 1997). In her novel, Kingsolver has raised many uncomfortable issues that encourage moral inquiry, such as how people treat each other and how one country treats other countries, and invites readers to confront them. The way Barbara Kingsolver has used her characters and the language of the Bible in The Poisonwood Bible, the novel is truly an excellent example of a work of narrative theological ethics.
References
Booth, W. C. (1989). The company we keep: An ethics of fiction. California: University of California Press.
Kingsolver, B. (2004). The poisonwood bible. (1st Edition ed.). New York: Harpercollins.
Nussbaum, M. C. (1997). Poetic justice: The literary imagination and public life. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
