Abstract Ideas in The Poisonwood Bible

Concrete Details / Abstract Ideas / Connection/ Implication
Leah’s observation that Tata Boanda has two wives. / Custom/ Tradition/Culture
Duty/ Honor/Commitment / Leah’s disillusionment with the questionable honor and duty of Tata Boanda, with two wives, is a challenge to her cultural/spiritual heritage. Her own conflict over which wife she should support exemplifies the seemingly unpassable barrier the Price family has created in their mission. In their monocular vision of the world, they cannot make contradictory elements coincide, further challenging their understanding of moral tradition.

Please choose four moments in the text and complete the concrete detail column.

Then, think about the abstract concepts these concrete moments will illuminate about the human condition. Don’t feel compelled to limit yourself to a single group of abstract ideas, or to a single meaning. Most concrete events have many possibilities for the expansion of abstract applications.

Your connection/implication is the connection of the text and the abstraction. In other words, how does the concrete detail work to create a message about the abstraction that helps us learn something about the world and the human experience, the meaning of the work as a whole, and the author’s intentions.

Literature explores the abstract forces of the human experience through the concrete experiences of characters. It is through literature that we learn something about the world, the condition of man, and the experience of man. The human experience (the abstraction) has remained the same; the situation and setting (the concrete) have changed. Below is a list of abstractions, remember the abstraction will become part of the analysis; your job is to apply the abstraction to the concrete and communicate a message about the human condition.

Abstract Ideas in The Poisonwood Bible

Alienation/ Loneliness/ Solitude

Ambition/ Dreams/ Regrets/ Achievements

Appearance/ Reality/ Perception

Betrayal/ Disloyalty/ Unfaithfulness/ Deception

Chance/ Fate/ Luck/ Destiny

Children/ Innocence/ Purity

Coming of Age/ Change/ Epiphany/ Initiation

Courage/ Cowardice

Custom/ Tradition/Culture

Defeat/ Disappointment

Despair/ Anguish

Dreams/ Fantasies/Illusions

Duty/ Honor/Commitment

Education/ Learning/ Inspiring

Escape/ Renewal/Both Physically and Psychologically

Exile/ Disillusionment/Abandonment

Family/ Parenthood/ Childhood

Forgiveness/ Understanding

Free will/ Willpower

Competition/ Victory/ Defeat

Greed/ Avarice/ Generosity

Grief/ Loss/

Guilt/ Repentance/ Confession

Home/ Haven /Sanctuary

Honesty/ Dishonesty/ Deceit

Honor/ Pride/ Patriotism

Hope/ Optimism

Identity/ Conformity

Individuality/ Narcissism

Instinct/ Primitive Instinct/ Noble Instinct

Journey/Psychological/ PhysicalJourney

Law/ Justice/ Punishment