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1-Page Summary of The Poisonwood Bible
In 1959, a Baptist minister named Nathan Price took his wife and four daughters to the Congo. He wanted to save the souls of its inhabitants. The five women in this novel narrate it from their separate points of view. From the outset, they have different attitudes about what’s happening. The mother passively accepts everything her husband tells her; one daughter resents being separated from normal teenage life; another is excited but also frightened; one is enthusiastic because she shares her father’s religious beliefs; and another feels cynical detachment toward everything that happens to them there.
It doesn’t take long for the family to realize that they have made a mistake. The first sign is when Nathan’s demonstration garden fails, because of pollinators and crocodiles. They are unable to plant their North American vegetables in Africa because there aren’t any African plants that can pollinate them. This realization ruins his plan to help the villagers by providing food and education about agriculture. His next failure comes from Mama Tataba leaving, due to his insistence on baptizing the villagers, which she believes will get them eaten by crocodiles in the river near her village.
Though the women are shaken, Nathan remains steadfast in his goals. He refuses to give up on baptizing the villagers and bending them to Christianity. When he finds out that they’re afraid of Christianity’s effect on their culture, Nathan becomes outraged and throws Anatole out of his house rather than trying to find a way for both cultures to coexist peacefully. Even when he has a plane ticket home, Nathan refuses, because there is still work left for him here. However, as time goes by in Kilanga without any progress being made towards converting people into Christians or winning over the chief (Tata Ndu), other changes occur elsewhere in Africa that will affect their situation greatly: Belgium gives Congo independence; it’s feared that all Westerners will be killed once this happens; so Nathan must leave with his family before then.
For several weeks, Orleanna lies in bed and the three older girls must take care of themselves. When Orleanna gets better she is a changed person. She speaks her mind to Nathan instead of cowering before him, and she begins searching for a way to get her daughters out of Africa. She attempts to bribe Eeben Axelroot into flying them home but he refuses because he needs money up front.
During this time, Leah is falling in love with Anatole, and she’s also losing interest in her father’s simple view of right and wrong. Meanwhile, Adah is becoming interested in Lingala. Rachel has to pretend to be engaged to Eeben Axelroot so that Chief Ndu will stop asking her to marry him. She ends up developing a slight crush on him instead. Ruth May gets malaria and becomes a different person when she recovers from it.
Kilanga has a dry spell and the people are starving. They organize a hunt for food, but there’s controversy over whether Leah can join in. The religious leader and chief object to her participation, so it’s put to vote and they’re overruled. Later that night Anatole finds an evil sign outside his hut, then wakes up the next morning to find a poisonous snake lying beside him in bed.
After the hunt, Nelson finds a sign outside of his home. The sign is from the Price’s chicken coop and asks him to spend the night in their house. Nathan refuses this request because he doesn’t want to have anything to do with Nelson. However, after some begging by Nelson, Nathan allows him to stay in their house for one night. He also tells Ruth May and Leah that they should be nice since they’re guests; however, it’s clear that he really doesn’t like them or trust them either. Later that evening after everyone goes to sleep, Tata Kuvundu comes into the Prices’ backyard and plants poisonous snakes around their yard as well as other homes connected to theirs (Nelson’s). But before Tata leaves he puts a snake on top of Leah who wakes up when she feels something on her back but can’t see what it is so she shakes it off only for it fall onto her face where she sees its fangs just inches from her eyes before it bites her right above her lip which makes blood come out of both sides of her mouth while still asleep until someone screams “Snake!” waking everyone else up including Tata who runs away thinking no one saw him plant all those snakes except for Leah who later dies due to being bitten by a snake planted by Tata Kuvundu earlier in the night while sleeping at Nathan Price’s house.
