Book of Judges

Contains the history of biblical judges, who are divinely inspired prophets sent by God and supposed to be

models of proper behavior

The Cycle of Sin

Major Themes Consequences of unfaithfulness Full faith in God = success and peace Oppression of women The power of God

“God works in mysterious ways” (Kingsolver 260)

Character Parallels: Nathan Nathan: self-declared judge Judges are supposed to be “models of the proper

behavior required of them by God,” which Nathan is to an extreme

“These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan” (Judges 3:1) Parallel to Poisonwood: In Judges, Orleanna tells the

story of Nathan and the war. Nathan should have been on the Death March to Bataan, but he was separated from his regiment. This is what sparked his obsessive quest to prove himself to God.

Character Parallels: Rachel

God selects a new judge, Jephthah, who then sacrifices his virgin daughter to God

Nathan sets up a fake engagement between Rachel & Axelroot because Tata Ndu wants to marry Rachel – essentially sacrificing his daughter

Plot Parallels

The Israelites have been sent to Canaan to destroy the Canaanites

“And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.” (Judges 4:24)

In Poisonwood’s Judges, the Prices find out that Eisenhower played a hand in Patrice Lumumba’s death

Plot Parallels

The Israelites were sent to Canaan to destroy the Canaanites, but they end up intermingling and even marrying Canaanites instead. Eventually, Israelites become so evil as to start worshiping Canaanite gods.

Nathan came to the Congo with the intent of subordinating the Africans, but his family ended up becoming part of the Congo instead. Leah stops believing in God, and instead begins to worship Anatole. “I felt the breath of God go cold on my skin” (Kingsolver

472) “I repeated his name because it took the place of prayer.

Anatole’s name anchored me to the earth…” (374)

Plot Parallels

According to the Cycle of Sin, a period of peace is always followed by a period of sin/chaos

Judges in Poisonwood occurs after a period of time when things are going well for the Prices; bad things start happening to the family once Judges begins Stipend from the missionary society removed Ruth May and Orleanna become sick Ants

Nathan blames the entire situation on a lack of faith in God, believing they are being punished

Women

Book of Judges is notable because it has many significant female characters in its narratives Women can hold power sometimes

There is even a female prophet, Deborah, who leads an attack on the King of Canaan Canaanite leader flees and is killed by a women

Delilah cuts off Samson’s hair in his sleep to take his power

Orleanna stays in bed for a month, then gets up and begins standing up to Nathan

Conclusion

Hard to draw very many clear parallels between the plots of Book of Judges and Poisonwood; the stories are mainly centered around violence and battle

However, overarching themes are definitely present in both texts Cycle of sin Power of God, faith in God Oppression of women

The more general plot, concerning the Israelites vs. Canaanites, is also echoed in Poisonwood (the Prices vs. the Congo; America vs. Lumumba)

The idea of “judges” by itself works well with Poisonwood; it is possible that Kingsolver did not intend to use much of the specific plot but simply wanted to use the idea of judges and God’s power/the power of faith in God