Biblical and Historical Allusion in Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible
Biblical Allusion
Novel: “His tone implied that Mother failed to grasp our mission, and that her concern with Betty Crocker confederated her with the coin-jingling sinners who vexed Jesus till he pitched a fit and threw them out of the church.
Bible: “Coin-jingling sinners”, in the Bible they are also knows as the Sadducees, they didn’t believe in heaven and resurrection, they believed people would live again after death and they denied the existence of angels. They strongly opposed the Pharisees, another Jewish sect who principles contradicted those. They consistently attacked the Christian faith, let alone share their wealth with them. This behavior was considered sin.
Source: http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-dictionary/sadducee.htm
Novel: “Maybe I will even confess the truth, that I rode in with the horsemen and behold the apocalypse but still I will insist I was only a captive witness”
Bible: “Rode in the horsemen and beheld the apocalypse” The book of Revelations in the Bible discusses an opening of seven seals, with the first four representing the four horsemen each with his own purpose during the end of the world; they all have different colors: white, red, black, and pale. The white represents Jesus, the red represents communion, black represents economy, and pale represents death.
Source: http://rintala-allusions.weebly.com/the-four-horsemen-and-the-apocalypse.html
Novel: “And so it came to pass that we stepped down there on a place we believed unformed, where only darkness moved on the face of the waters”
Bible: “Darkness moved on the face of water” shows prematurity in both concept and nature
Source: Genesis 1:2 Bible Study Tools
History Allusion
Novel: “Where we are headed,” he said, to make things perfectly clear, “not so much as Piggly Wiggly”
History: Piggly Wiggly was founded in 1916, a supermarket chain run by Piggly Wiggly LLC. It now operates throughout the Midwestern and Southern states. The opening of the store meant that it
Novel: “His tone implied that Mother failed to grasp our mission, and that her concern with Betty Crocker confederated her with the coin-jingling sinners who vexed Jesus till he pitched a fit and threw them out of the church.
Bible: “Coin-jingling sinners”, in the Bible they are also knows as the Sadducees, they didn’t believe in heaven and resurrection, they believed people would live again after death and they denied the existence of angels. They strongly opposed the Pharisees, another Jewish sect who principles contradicted those. They consistently attacked the Christian faith, let alone share their wealth with them. This behavior was considered sin.
Source: http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-dictionary/sadducee.htm
Novel: “Maybe I will even confess the truth, that I rode in with the horsemen and behold the apocalypse but still I will insist I was only a captive witness”
Bible: “Rode in the horsemen and beheld the apocalypse” The book of Revelations in the Bible discusses an opening of seven seals, with the first four representing the four horsemen each with his own purpose during the end of the world; they all have different colors: white, red, black, and pale. The white represents Jesus, the red represents communion, black represents economy, and pale represents death.
Source: http://rintala-allusions.weebly.com/the-four-horsemen-and-the-apocalypse.html
Novel: “And so it came to pass that we stepped down there on a place we believed unformed, where only darkness moved on the face of the waters”
Bible: “Darkness moved on the face of water” shows prematurity in both concept and nature
Source: Genesis 1:2 Bible Study Tools
History Allusion
Novel: “Where we are headed,” he said, to make things perfectly clear, “not so much as Piggly Wiggly”
History: Piggly Wiggly was founded in 1916, a supermarket chain run by Piggly Wiggly LLC. It now operates throughout the Midwestern and Southern states. The opening of the store meant that it