Poisonwood Bible

Using multiple narrators in a novel is a tricky and encumbersome undertaking. It can yield highly successful results and also tragic failures, if not done so carefully. Previously in our class we saw Alice Walker skillfully pull of a dual narration in the form of letters between two sisters, and occasionally God. This is technically called epistolary form, but definitely falls into the category of multiple narrators. Walker masterfully crafts a moving novel that is only enhanced by the multiple points of view. The sisters, split at a relatively early point in their young-adult lives find themselves on separate continents, but slowly coming closer and closer to being reunited. The multiple narrators in this allow Walker to address socio-economic issues in both America and Africa.
In Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible she takes an the enormous task of five separate narrators coming from the point of view of Orleanna, the mother, and the four daughters, Ruth May, Rachel, Leah, and Adah. The one main character who goes through the whole novel without ever getting an individual voice from the author is Nathan.
Kingsolver’s decision to never gift Nathan with a voice is a critical one in the construction of this novel. If you are familiar with the blockbuster film “Batman: The Dark Knight” you can undoubtedly recall the sinister and demented Joker, tragically played by Heath Ledger in his final role before his untimely death. In this movie the Joker twice gives an explanation for the unsightly scars etched in the form of a smile on his face. When Christopher Nolan, the director and writer of the movie was asked about this his reply essentially stated that he didn’t want the audience to give any sympathy to the wholly evil character, establishing the Joker as an entity of all that is wrong. Similarly Kingsolver treats Nathan in the same way. By only being able to see Nathan through interactions with the narrators the reader never gets a chance to sympathize with the thoroughly arrogant and unrelenting character.
Likewise the separate narratives cast each speaker as a distinct, different, and very individual character. We get countless insights such as when Adah admits she realized she “no longer believed in God” in Baptist Sunday school, which leads to her eventually finding fulfillment as an epidemiologist. When Kingsolver was confronted in an interview about her use of so many narrators she explains that it was “necessary to the theme of this novel” and continued to explain that. “The four sisters and Orleanna represent five separate philosophical positions, not just in their family but also in my political examination of the world.” (PBS)
Kingsolver can easily put down multiple narrations as an intricate skill learned and mastered by her, as she brands this book with a style completely her own. For such an overwhelming undertaking she pulls it off with grace and ease, which is an accomplishment in itself, beyond the fact that The Poisonwood Bible is an effective allegory on many social and political problems present not only in the heart of the Congo, but in our own country of America, both in the past and present.

Works Cited
PBS. Author interview: Barbara Kingsolver. 17 9 2008. 29 10 2009 .