The world detailed in Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible is one that is rich with symbolism and layered meanings. Whether she is shining a light on American imperialism in Africa or casting doubt on the virtue of religious fundamentalism, the author frequently challenges the reader to consider his or her notions of Western culture and its impact on the rest of the world. The novel’s primary characters, the Price family, offer several different viewpoints on major themes pertaining to Western colonialism whilst simultaneously exploring the tenets of uncompromising religious ideals. Nathan Price, the masculine patriarch of the Price family, is unyielding in his mission and embodies many different things that are wrong with both strict religiosity as well as Western arrogance. The novel is framed around the rest of the Price family who, in turn, narrate their experiences with Nathan and his quest for dominion over his household and African people alike. Kingsolver’s novel illustrates the fault in religious rhetoric and acts as an indictment of overreaching belief systems that ignore the needs of the people in favor of the needs of those who hold power.
	While The Poisonwood Bible has several messages and multiple possible interpretations, its stance on the fault in the practice of a single religion centered on masculine power is quite clear. Nathan Price, the driving force behind the Price family’s excursion to Africa, is both the head of his family and the purported head of the Christian mission in the Congo. As the patriarch, he holds dominion over his wife and four daughters, and attempts to gain the same kind of control over the villagers and their beliefs. As University of Victoria English Professor Christopher Douglas explains, Nathan’s form of Christianity “is an exercise in male power and familial hierarchy, which Kingsolver portrays as the danger of male tyranny inherent in the biblical admonition that wives obey their husbands.” This type of Christian belief puts Nathan into a position of power that no one in his family may challenge. Early in the novel, Nathan’s daughter Leah observes that he “views himself as the captain of a sinking mess of female minds.” This passage demonstrates to readers Nathan’s values in regard to his wife and children, all of whom are females and therefore part of the “sinking mess.” It also shows the audience that his family is very much aware of his stance on the matter, which is especially significant coming from Leah early on in the novel during the point which she looks to her father for spiritual guidance. Nathan’s misogynist worldview is a force that drives him in matters pertaining to his family, but which also has further symbolic implications throughout the novel.
	The relationship between Nathan the missionary and the African people is one that closely resembles Nathan’s relationship to his family. Almost immediately upon the Price family’s arrival in Africa, Nathan begins to deliver fiery speeches that criticize the African people and their beliefs, choosing in particular to focus on the bare-breasted women: “The emissaries of the Lord smote the sinners, who had come heedless to the sight of God, Heedless to their nakedness.” Of course, this awkward scene is just one instance where Kingsolver foreshadows the failure of Nathan’s mission and the near ruin of his family, something that is alluded to by Rachel when she says, “we are supposed to be calling the shots here, but it doesn’t look to me like we’re in charge of a thing, not even our own selves.” Perhaps the first sign of trouble is the dilemma they face at the airport when trying to board their plane bearing all of their chosen possessions. Of course, the Price family’s unpreparedness goes beyond just the items they carried with them. Interestingly, the problem they face in choosing items to bring along is incited by Nathan’s insistence that each family member bring only what was completely essential. The items that they bring are almost entirely useless for one reason or another, which is just one instance of Nathan’s instructions being detrimental to the family. This translates directly to his position as a missionary and his firm belief that he knows what is best for the Congolese people. Baylor University professor of English Nathan Kilpatrick discusses the parallel, explaining that Kingsolver “creates five female voices in the Price women who are similarly able to identify with the Congolese people because of their shared experience of subjugation to a totalizing and dominating authority.” It is significant, then, that the story is told through the voices of these five female characters, while Nathan’s voice is notably absent from the narration. Kilpatrick further explains the allegory, saying, “the colonization of the Congo by Western nations can be understood through the metaphor of Nathan Price’s patriarchal domination of the women of his family.” In this broad sense, Kingsolver uses Nathan’s adherence to his religious beliefs as a symbol to aid the reader in understanding the plight of the African people who are subject to Western imperialism.
