Connect the Biblical quotation from Genesis that introduces Book One to the narrative in Book One. 1. Explain the Biblical quotation itself and 2. Make the connections. Due: March 2
"And God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
In my opinion, the second part of this passage has a greater connection with the narrative in the first book of The Poisonwood Bible. The meaning is pretty clear. According to Genesis, God told the first humans to exert their dominion over everything around them, to harness the Earth's potential and use its resources for their benefit. They were to impose their will on every and any living thing, for it was God's will. In a nutshell, the passage is about the superiority and dominion of those chosen by God over all of God's creation.
It is easy to draw parallels between the message in this Bible passage and Kingsolver's story. The Price family moves to Africa, which is so deprived of civilization that it can basically be described as virgin territory. In getting there, Reverend Price immediately begins to assert his authority over the people of the Congo Valley. He speaks against their "nakedness and darkness of the soul" (Kingsolver 27), making the women change their traditional style of dress and cover their bare chests. He attempts to impose the sacrament of baptism over the villagers, despite their adamant opposition. More than being a religious leader, he becomes a force to be reckoned with. The villagers are intimidated by him, frightened of the man who has suddenly come to change their ways.
It is interesting to see how Kingsolver also makes literal representations of the words in the Genesis excerpt. Reverend Price gains "dominion over the fish" when he instructs the villagers to throw dynamite into the river, thereby providing everyone with plentiful food, but also allowing much of it to go to waste. Believing that he "needs permission only from the Saviour, who obviously is all in favor of subduing the untamed wilderness for a garden" (Kingsolver 36), Reverend Price also sets forth and starts a garden, treating the African soil as if it was his to be treated by. He plows the Earth over and over again, determined to shape it into something more familiar and docile than the hot, red African earth. However, both his attempts at "fishing in the style of redneck Georgia" (Kingsolver 70) and at starting a garden end in failure: most of the fish killed by the dynamite are left to rot at the river's embankments, and the flowers in the Price garden are left to wither and die alone for lack of insects to pollinate them. So far, it seems that the Reverend's attempts at dominion seem to have little to no effect at all. Maybe it is as Leah says, and the word of God weighs nothing at all in Africa (Kingsolver 19).
I am a teacher of AP English Literature and Composition, American Literature, Journalism and Creative Writing at Escuela Americana in San Salvador. This blog was developed for my AP English Literature class. Its original purpose was to allow two literary units to run simultaneously: Frankenstein would be an independent study via this blog, while the class time was devoted to Informal essays. Since then it has been a way to add depth to several literary units.
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"And God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
In my opinion, the second part of this passage has a greater connection with the narrative in the first book of The Poisonwood Bible. The meaning is pretty clear. According to Genesis, God told the first humans to exert their dominion over everything around them, to harness the Earth's potential and use its resources for their benefit. They were to impose their will on every and any living thing, for it was God's will. In a nutshell, the passage is about the superiority and dominion of those chosen by God over all of God's creation.
It is easy to draw parallels between the message in this Bible passage and Kingsolver's story. The Price family moves to Africa, which is so deprived of civilization that it can basically be described as virgin territory. In getting there, Reverend Price immediately begins to assert his authority over the people of the Congo Valley. He speaks against their "nakedness and darkness of the soul" (Kingsolver 27), making the women change their traditional style of dress and cover their bare chests. He attempts to impose the sacrament of baptism over the villagers, despite their adamant opposition. More than being a religious leader, he becomes a force to be reckoned with. The villagers are intimidated by him, frightened of the man who has suddenly come to change their ways.
It is interesting to see how Kingsolver also makes literal representations of the words in the Genesis excerpt. Reverend Price gains "dominion over the fish" when he instructs the villagers to throw dynamite into the river, thereby providing everyone with plentiful food, but also allowing much of it to go to waste. Believing that he "needs permission only from the Saviour, who obviously is all in favor of subduing the untamed wilderness for a garden" (Kingsolver 36), Reverend Price also sets forth and starts a garden, treating the African soil as if it was his to be treated by. He plows the Earth over and over again, determined to shape it into something more familiar and docile than the hot, red African earth. However, both his attempts at "fishing in the style of redneck Georgia" (Kingsolver 70) and at starting a garden end in failure: most of the fish killed by the dynamite are left to rot at the river's embankments, and the flowers in the Price garden are left to wither and die alone for lack of insects to pollinate them. So far, it seems that the Reverend's attempts at dominion seem to have little to no effect at all. Maybe it is as Leah says, and the word of God weighs nothing at all in Africa (Kingsolver 19).
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