118 pages 3 hours read

Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood Bible

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1998

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Book 4

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 4 Summary: “Bel and the Serpent”

Orleanna Price, Sanderling Island, Georgia

Orleanna recounts the story of President Eisenhower authorizing a coup against Prime Minister Lumumba. After the UN-funded mercenary army led by Mobutu, a man more willing to accede to Western interests, took control, Lumumba was put on house arrest. He escaped house arrest but was eventually murdered near Kilanga. His body was not returned to his wife, which has serious cultural implications.

Orleanna wonders what, precisely, she had been doing during that time. She states that she had been consumed by the daily life in Kilanga, particularly with keeping Ruth May alive, and had not paid attention to the greater scale of events. Orleanna reflects that both she and Lumumba lost a life that day and that she felt that, on some level, she had been waiting for such a loss to justify leaving her husband without remorse.

What We Lost; Kilanga, January 17, 1961: Leah

Leah considers the many contributing factors that led to the dramatic confrontation between her father and Tata Ndu, namely the drought, hunger, ants, and recent elections. Tata Ndu arrives at church and interrupts Reverend Price’s story on Bel and the Serpent, a story taken from the apocrypha in which Daniel uses ashes to prove that the priests of Bel were eating the offerings themselves.

Related Titles

By Barbara Kingsolver

Plot Summary

logo

Animal Dreams

Barbara Kingsolver

Animal Dreams

Barbara Kingsolver

Study Guide

logo

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver

Study Guide

logo

Demon Copperhead

Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead

Barbara Kingsolver

Study Guide

logo

Flight Behavior

Barbara Kingsolver

Flight Behavior

Barbara Kingsolver

Study Guide

logo

High Tide in Tucson

Barbara Kingsolver

High Tide in Tucson

Barbara Kingsolver

Plot Summary

logo

Pigs In Heaven

Barbara Kingsolver

Pigs In Heaven

Barbara Kingsolver

Study Guide

logo

Prodigal Summer

Barbara Kingsolver

Prodigal Summer

Barbara Kingsolver

Study Guide

logo

The Bean Trees

Barbara Kingsolver

The Bean Trees

Barbara Kingsolver

Plot Summary

logo

The Lacuna

Barbara Kingsolver

The Lacuna

Barbara Kingsolver

Study Guide

logo

Unsheltered

Barbara Kingsolver

Unsheltered

Barbara Kingsolver