The Poisonwood Essay Hypocrisy Of Religious Rhetoric And...

The Poisonwood Bible- The Hypocrisy of Religious Rhetoric and Colonial Imperialism Imperialism has been a strong and long lasting force, oppressing societies for generations on end. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, thoroughly presents how the Belgian Congo is continuously affected by this concept and ideology. Throughout this story, Kingsolver manipulates each family member and individual within the book to better show Western and European ideas and attitudes, to convey the large amount of hypocrisy, in the foreigner’s actions. No one shows the oppression, inflicted upon the Congo’s people in hope of spreading imperialism, better than the main characters in this story. Nathans only goal is to convert all of the native people’s beliefs to Christianity. By hoping to doing this, they will be able to grasp control and establish their dominance upon the village. This can be seen through Orleannas thoughts, We aimed for no more than to have dominion over ev ery creature that moved upon the earth. And so it came to pass that we stepped down there on a place we believed unformed, where only darkness moved on the face of the waters. (Kingsolver 10). Kingsolver shows that individuals are always going to want and demand control, however the victims of this oppression will fight past it and won’t give in. Many people have come before the Price family, trying to do the same thing. However, the natives are smarter than to give into their new ideologies. Arrogance in