The Poisonwood Bible Notes

Geneisis

Mom     Walking through the woods with daughters (two blondes and two brunettes). Okapi shows up( unicorn association).

The Things We Carried –Kilanga 1959

Leah      From Bethlehem, Georgia. Mom is packing unnecessary thing for the mission trip. Dad is a pastor and not a worldly man.

Rachel   Worldly, uses nail polish even though Dad doesn’t like it. Met Underdowns in the airport where they gave the prices netting and wished them luck.

Ruth May Blonde, five years old, youngest, “tribes of Ham” black people are slaves, they are like Ham

Rachel   Blonde, doesn’t like Africa, they go into tent that is very hot and they are roasting a goat over the fire. Women are naked and Dad preaches nakedness is bad.

Adah     Twin, brunette, thoughtful, quiet, thought to be dumb and her right leg drags, talks about people using car parts to cook with

Leah      Twin, brunette, outside girl, Daddy’s girl, gardening with Dad, seeds will help many, Mama Bekwa Tataba works for Price’s, encountered poisonwood while gardening and Dad got it on his face. Father is patient and makes sure he is composed when he speaks

Rachel   There is a pageant at the church for Easter, not many people attend but they do show up to fried chicken dinner by the lake, Mr. Price wants to baptize people, but they are firmly against it

 Ruth May                People have big bellied because they are sick, not because they are fat, black people are staring at them because they are white

Adah     Adah and Leah gifted, ahead in school, Adah reads, spells, writes backwards. The “verse” punishment is mentioned. There was a big rain that wiped out the garden; Dad fixes it like Bekwa Tataba

Leah      Garden growing, bad cake mix for Rachel’s birthday, the parrot keeps saying Damn! And Dad asks who was saying that word. They girls were quiet, but it was really Mom but they wanted to protect her

Adah     they kill fish with dynamite and they all eat but then it smells like fish for days because of no refrigerator, she is not very faithful

Leah      No fruit or Vegetables are growing and they find out that no one wants to be baptizes because a little girl was killed by an alligator

The Revelation- Georgia

Orleanna  Find out that one of Orleanna’s daughters dies over in Africa, Tataba leaves the family, Mom is helpless, and things are going downhill

Things we Learned- Kilanga

Leah      Learning words in Kikongo, people were fascinated with them because they were white. Many young girls were married and women carried baskets on their haed, marketday consisted of food, hairdos, spying on Mr. Axelroot, and Ruth Ann breaks the ice with the neighbor kids, she gets them to play Mother May I?

                Broke arm while spying on scouts, has lots of pets, rode in a plane, once to the docto’s office, Dad and the doctor argue

Rachel   Anatole their only ally/ school teacher, he brings a puzzling message from the man Dad probably hates the most, Dad smashes mom’s favorite plate saying she was too attached to it.

Adah     she and Leah got water, Leah was much faster than her, and lion ws following her and they thought she had been eaten but it was a deer

Leah      Anatole sent Nelson to help them with chores, “kakakaka” deadly sickness, malaria, created hope chest for when they get married

Ruth May Works with Nelson collecting eggs, she finds baby owl in the bathroom

Rachel   Underdowns show up, tell them about election in Congo, and that they are leaving, independence, warn them to leave but father insiss they stay

Adah     Many kids in neighborhood are dying from sickness

Rachel   Rachel wants to go home

Ruth May Dad and Leah leave on plane, Mom stays in bed all day and Ruth May joins her

Leah      Went to see independence ceremony

Adah     Methuselah’s feathers found on Independence Day

Jugdes- Georgia

Orleanna  She regrets she met Nathan, she is suffering as well as the kids, struggling through selflessness

The Things we Didn’t Know- Kilanga

Leah      No more money, getting food from woman who walks on her hands, Mom and Ruth May stayed in bed for a long time

Adah     If people are dying in one religion, they move to another one to see if they religion works better.

Ruth May Ruth May and Mom hang out

Adah     Mom and Ruth May are sick, Dad doesn’t care, it still out preaching, girls work together to make     food

Leah      Tried to cheer up Ruth May, Anatole relays message of new diamond country

Ruth May                 Everyone wants to go, Nelson brings her a necklace

Leah      Rachel brings eggs, Mom gets up and questions Dad’s decision to stay.

Rachel   Mr. and Mrs. Bird Make visit, gave the Price’s some food from their house boat and then we on their way

Adah     Tata Ndu brought gifts but expected something in return; Ndu wanted Rachel to be his wife

Leah      Ruth May very sick, found all her malaria pills on the wall

Rachel   She has to be pretending to marry Mr. Axelroot

Ruth May                 She thinks she got sick because of the bad things she did

Rachel   Her birthday, Leah helps Anatole with math       

Adah     Ruth May better, Leah lessons from Anatole

Leah      Hanging out with Anatole, globe, and religion

Rachel   Hanging out with Axelroot. Smoke together then kiss

Adah     Watches funerals, spies on Axelroot, plans on killing President

Leah      Ant flood, Anatole saved her then he goes back for the rest of the family

Rachel   escapes to rive but no one will let her on their boat

Ruth May                 Mom takes her to river, sees Adah being trampled and falling but she keeps going

Adah     Her mom didn’t help her

Leah      Anatole and she talk ants and possible president murder, she told him she loved him and he told her not to say that

Bel and the Serpent- Georgia

Ruth May President assassination

What we Lost- Kilanga

Leah      Voting for Jesus during sermon, Jesus lost 11:56

Rache    Axel root not show up for a while, discussion about big hunt and bow and arrow, Leah gets to hunt and disobeys Dad

Adah     Five in circle, ate caterpillars, killed antelope, bushbuck and baboons

Leah      Killed an impala

Rachel   Sad with all the killed animals

Leah      Division of meat went bad

Rachel   Had a piece of antelope for dinner, Nelson saw evil sign and girls set ash trap

Adah     Green mamba in chicken coop, witch doctor did it with six toes

Leah      Ruth May got bitten by the snake

Adah     Ruth May curled up and died

Rachel   They had to tell the parents

Leah      Mom wrapped Ruth May up, put all their possessions outside for people to take, it started to rain, dad was baptizing kids as it was raining.

Exodus- Georgia

Orleanna  She had to keep going or the sadness would wrap around her like a swimmers hair, she kept moving and Nathan held still

What we Carried Out

Leah      Left as it was raining, no men, met Mama Lo and others under the elephant tree, stopped at house, Dad wasn’t with them, they fell to malaria because of mosquitoes, arrive in Bulungu, Dad and Anatole visit, Rachel went with Axelroot, Mom and Adah leave, Anatole takes care of her, she loves him

Rachel   Not married, Axelroot looks at other women, forgot her hope chest but happy to be alive

Adah     Mom turned country and is a gardener, Adah trying to get into Emory University, felt lost in the modern world.

Leah      Things not good for Dad, Anatole is in prison after smuggling her from place to place, Leah working at clinic, learning new things and different languages

Rachel   Axel root not good guy, going to leave him

Leah      She and Anatole were married, was anniversary of Ruth Ann’s death, he was released and she escaped to Bikoki, they worked in a school and clinic

Adah     Medical school, getting better, mom working for Civil Rights, Leah, Anatole and son Pascal visit Atlanta

Leah      Anatole and sons go to U.S. for schooling, when they return, Anatole is arrested.

Rachel   Two failed marriages, owns hotel and sad because family doesn’t visit. Wants to move to farm, Leah is mad at her because no black people at the hotel so she told them dad had been killed while trying to baptize kids.

Leah      Struggling with farm, Nathan new son, wants to move but no place to go.

Songs of the Three Children

Leah      Her sons are all grown except Nathan

Rachel   Satisfied with life and ignoring the things she didn’t want to see.

Adah     Quits medicine, admires viruses and researches them

The Eyes in the Trees

Ruth May returns, tells them a story, leads them through the market trying to fins Ruth May’s Grave but they can’t and people tell them that place doesn’t exist. Meet woman selling dolls that look familiar. Ruth May forgives mom and asks her to forgive herself.