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Poisonwood Bible Chapter Summaries

Book Three: The Judges

Prologue:
Orleanna discusses a few things as she tries to avoid judgement from her daughters and
maybe even the readers. She says she was young and foolish when she married Nathan Price and
was swept up by his passion and intensity. While she was stressed out by Nathans missions, she
was occupied by a foreign power, namely three children born from two successful pregnancies.
She says she lost her wings even before they came to the Congo. She, however, gained them
back, although she says that that story is too unbearable to retell.

Leah:
Leah and Nathan return o Kilanga from Leopoldville. No one, not even their family is
there to greet them. Many of the villagers have stopped associating with them because they no
longer have any money. When the Underdowns left, the Baptist church stopped sending money.
Some villagers like Mama Tataba are generous enough to give them food, but they mostly ignore
the Prices. At the end of the section, Nelson who is still sticking around tells Leah that somebody
is testing faith for Orleanna and Ruth May who are still in bed.

Adah:
Adah explains the difference between muntu, kuntu, and nommo. Later, we see Nelson
tell Adah that, in Kilanga, mothers of twins leave the kids to die in the jungle because theyre bad
luck. He asks Adah what happened when her mother didnt leave her to die. Adah responds that
theyd won the war. Adah finds it ironic that the religion of Kilanga has rules for twins, but the
Bible gave no instruction for mothers of newborn twins. Father is always saying the word batiza,
whoch means baptism in Congolese. It also means to terrify, which is exactly what hes doing.

Ruth May:
Ruth May is still in bed and hoping her father never comes back. She tells us about a
dream she had where shed climbed to the top of a tree and could see everything, children,
adults, peoples thoughts.

Adah:
With Orleanna and Ruth May still in bed, and Nathan Price not caring about anything
except baptizing the unwilling Kilanga, Adah, Leah, and Rachel are left to fend for themselves.
They divide up the chores amongst themselves and tease Rachel about maggots in the flour.
Adah doesnt understand why Rachel is acting like a big-sister. The twins have always thought
themselves to be older ever since they beat her at the 2nd grade spelling bee.

Leah:
After three weeks of Ruth Nay being in bed, Leah makes her get up. Trying to spark
interest in anything, she feeds an ant to an ant lion. Ruth may does not find this amusing and
makes Leah feel guilty about it. After the lecture on insect morals, Anatole comes along and
chats Leah up for a bit. They talk about friends, politics, communism, and fairness in the world.
Anatole leaves and Leah takes Ruth May back inside. She contemplates writing a letter back
home but decides that it would be too laborious and take too long.

Ruth May:
Ruth May says she was woken up in the middle of the night and Nelson was there. He
gives her a present that shes supposed to put her spirit inside and think of a place she wants to
disappear to. If she thinks of that place every day, shell disappear to that place when shes about
to die. (Thanks for that not so subtle foreshadowing.)

Leah:
Orleanna finally gets out of bed. Rachel burns an egg omelet and her mother decides its
time to teach her how to cook. Meanwhile, Leah has been going through a few crises. She
wonders if she damages Adah in the womb and why her father, who is supposed to be spreading
Gods word, is so down on the women. If Nathan is wrong about staying in the Congo, what else
could he be wrong about?

Rachel:
While in the kitchen, Rachel overhears the kids announcing the arrival Tata Bidibidi or
Mr. Bird or Reverend Santa. He comes to their house and sits down with the family. Turns out its
Brother Fowls who used to live in their house. Nathan comes home and the tension goes from 0
to 100. They have an uncomfortable debate about different translations of the Bible and the true
meaning of Gods word. Before Mr. Bird leaves, he gives the Prices tons of giftscoffee, sugar,
quinine, and books for Adah. If theyre going to be stuck in the Congo, at least they wont have
to go without everything.

Adah:
Ruth may is getting worse, but Tata Ndu has been surprisingly generous to the Price
family. Nelson tells Orleanna that Tata Ndu has been showering them with gifts because he wants
to marry Rachel. Knowing that it would be an absolutely ridiculous match, she laughs. Nelson
says Tata Ndu wants Rachel because shes white and a different color than all his other wives.
Mother doesnt understand, thinking this makes Rachel sound like an object for possession.
Nelson and Orleanna stare dumbly at each other and Adah mentions that theyd reached the limit
of their mutual understanding.

Leah:
The Price family is unsure of what to do to avoid marrying Rachel to Tata Ndu. They
dont want to give Rachel up but also dont want to offend the Chief. In the end, they pretend
that Rachel is married to Eeben Axelrroot, the pilot. Meanwhile, Ruth May gets sicker and
sicker. They move her bed into the main room so that she will at least be with family during the
day and so that Orleanna can keep watch on her. When they do move the bed, they notice that
shes been stamping her quinine pills into the wall. Turns out she hadnt been swallowing them
and now Ruth May has malaria.

Rachel:
Rachel and Eeben Axelroot have been pretending that theyre engaged. They had to sit on
the porch and prove that they were to the villagers of Kilanga. He told her that he was working
for the CIA but shes not sure if hes telling the truth. She decides to try and win him over and
convince him to fly her mother and sister home.

Ruth May:
Tata Ndu tells Nathan that Rachel needs to have a circumcision. Ruth May hears it as
circus mission, but theyre really talking about female genital mutilation. Ouch. Ruth May
believes she got sick because she saw Mr. Axelroots diamonds, and him being around makes her
feel worse. She also finally decides where shell disappear to if she finds herself on the verge of
death. Up in a tree, the same color, same everything. She will look down on you but you wont
see her at all.

Rachel:
Rachel spends the entirety of this chapter whining about the presents she got for her
seventeenth birthday. She doesnt like any of them other than the set of earring and matching
bracelet that Orleanna gave her. She appreciates it sure, but not enough to stop whining about
how this was the worst day ever.

Adah:
Anatole gives Leah a bow and arrow and Nelson teaches her how to use it. Once again,
Nathans holy words are backfiring. When he says Tata Jesus is bangala, hes actually saying that
Jesus is poisonwood. Hell make you itch like nobodys business, no wonder people stay away.

Leah:
Leah wants to ask Anatole if people hate her because shes white. This brings up a
lengthy debate on race relations in the Congo. Anatole tells her that he isnt on her fathers side.
But he isnt on the side of the villagers either. He wants people to be able to make informed
decisions for themselves. They talk about how things are different in the Congo than they are in
America. Finally, Leah tells Anatole that the world is round. He had never seen a globe before so
she offered to make him one out of calabash.

Rachel:
Rachel and Eeben Axelroot are still parading around the village pretending to be courting.
Its not so much pretend anymore because Axelroot kisses Rachel and she kind of likes it. He
also lets her smoke cigarettes with him. He then tells her that someone big and important is going
to die: Patrice Lumumba. Allegedly, the United States is paying someone to arrange for
Lumumbas murder.
Adah:
Adah is thinking about names again. Emily Dickinson backwards is no snikcidy lime. The
people of Kilanga call Adah bnduka, which could either mean bent-sideways girl who wants
slowly or fast-flying bird. She likes both of those. Adah has been spying on Eeben Axelroot
but he knows. Rachel told him that she just spies on everyone because shes creepy. Hes been
drinking and listening to the radio with someone named W.I. Rogue, which is probably a code
name, but Adah hasnt deciphered it yet. While eavesdropping on his radio, she learns that
President Eisenhower is the one who wants Lumumba dead. Adah wonders who would want to
murder the president of another land.

Leah:
Leah wakes up in the middle of the night surrounded by ants. She runs but she cant find
her family. She feels guilty for leaving Adah behind. Has she hurt her again? Anatole appears and
tells Leah that hell go back and try to find her family. All Leah can do is stand in the water
where ants drown and float and wait.

Rachel:
The first thing Rachel thinks to save when the ants come is her mirror. She rips it off the
wall and runs for the river. Unable to get through the crowd of people, Rachel remembers a book
she read: How to Survive 101 Calamities. Being devoured by ants in the Congo wasnt in the
book, but she used other tactics to get across. She sticks her elbows in people in the ribs, picks up
her feet, and floats toward the river. At the river, she tries to get into a boat with another family,
but they push her over. She drops the mirror and it breaks, and here comes the whine fest.

Ruth May:
Orleanna carries Ruth May out of the ant-covered house. She believes that all this is
happening because Leah fed that ant to the ant-lion. The ants are now taking their revenge,
spooky. At the river, some Congolese takes Ruth May from her mother and she starts kicking and
screaming. She then remembers that Nelson told her of a safe place to go. She hadnt been
thinking of the place every day like she was supposed to. She finally thinks of the safest place: a
green mamba in the tree. You dont have to be afraid if you are one, youre the same as
everything else in your surroundings.

Adah:
Adah wakes up among the ants. Her sisters scream and leave her. She sees her mother on
the path outside the house and asks for her mother to help her. Orleanna instead grabs Ruth May
and leaves Adah behind. She shouts come on! over her shoulder at Adah but that doesnt give
her the mobility of other people. She gets trampled by the villagers fleeing Kilanga. On the
ground, shes covered in ants. Theyre in her ears, her mouth, her eyes. Finally, Anatole comes
around and yanks her off the group and drags her to the river. Adah now believes shes seen true
evil. In her mother when she left her behind.
Leah:
Anatole tells Leah that everything is okay. She asks him if he thinks the ant plague is the
work of God. He tells her that the ants keep moving whether God cares or not. Aftre talking
about God and fairness, Anatole tells her that bad things can happen to good people and vice
versa. There is no justice in the world. Upset that they never should have come to the Congo,
Leah says that no one cares about her family. Anatole points out everyone whos helping them
right that second. Tata Boanda is carrying Orleanna and Leahs sister in his boat. Tata Lekulu is
carrying her father even though he wont shut up about his Lord. Mama Mwanza has been
sneaking the family eggs. Leah starts to cry and tells Anatole that she loves him. He says to never
say that again.

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