Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible: Orleanna Breaking the Sequence and the Sentence of Wome's Oppression Through the Use of Women's Culture
Graduation Date
Fall 2001
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program Name
Humanities
First Reader
Jan Van Stavern, PhD
Second Reader
Carlos Rodriguez, MA
Abstract
Women have been politically and socially treated as second-class entities for thousands of years. As a woman questions of how and why this situation came about feel as if they are ever present in my life. It is easy for me to see the perpetuation of old stereotypes of the-ever-present-stay-at-home-mother-who- constantly-tends-to-the-needs-of-others-without-ever-seeming-to-need-anything- except-the-satisfaction-of-making- a-good-meal-for-her-provider-husband in the media. The news seems to have a story about some woman who has given up her career to be a stay at home mom nearly every week. This is 2001. Although women have gained many rights in the U.S. they have been hard won and seem to be more easily lost or questioned with each passing day. Using primarily the works of Kingsolver, Lerner and Woolf I will show that through the use of a supportive woman’s culture women can break the expected sequence and the sentence of women’s oppression.
Barbara’s Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible will be used as a vehicle to examine what life for a woman living as a second-class person looks like and how and why a person could end up in that situation. Kingsolver’s character Orleanna Price believes herself to be a lesser person than her husband Nathan Price who also believes Orleanna is a lesser person. When I originally read Poisonwood I greatly disliked the character of Orleanna Price. I disliked her for taking the abuse dished out by her husband and allowing him to abuse their children. I disliked her for being weak; I could not understand why Kingsolver would have her character endure such a life. The character, Orleanna Price, and how she copes is now the main focus of this paper. I felt it was important to figure out why this character touched such a negative nerve in me.
-thesis excerpt-