BOOK TWO: THE REVELATION

STUDY GUIDE

  1. What does the title of Book Two foreshadow?

CHAPTER 13- Orleanna

  1. Identify elements of foreshadowing in Orleanna’s chapter, and explain what they might be hinting at.
  2. When in this section set? How does it differ from the other chapters?
  3. What does Orleanna have to do just to make breakfast for the family?
  4. What do most people in Kilanga eat on a daily basis?
  5. Why did Mama Tataba call the Prices “fufu nsala”?
  6. What are the two meanings for the phrase “Tata Nzolo”? Why is the difference in the two meaning important?
  7. What has Orleanna discovered about the Kikongo language?
  8. What frustrates Tata Ndu about the church?
  9. How has Orleanna’s tone changed from her earlier narration in Chapter one? Give textual evidence to support your answer.
  10. According to Orleanna, Nathan’s heart has been hardened. He will refuse to change for Africa a third time. What is your opinion of Nathan’s decision?
  11. Explain the significance of Orleanna seeing Nathan reborn “with a stone in place of his heart.”
  12. What is the significance of the biblical allusions to Lot and Job?

THE THINGS WE LEARNED

CHAPTER 14- Leah

  1. How does Leah’s opinion about Tata Boanda’s two wives and her relationship with Pascal develop her character? Give textual evidence to support your answer.
  1. Leah says, “I always believed any sin was easily rectified if only you let Jesus Christ into your heart, but here it gets complicated.” How does this quote signal a change in Leah’s character?
  1. How does Ruth May befriend the children, and how does that develop her character? Give textual evidence to support your answer.
  1. What is different about the games Leah knows from childhood and Pascal’s games? What realization does Leah come to about childhood?

CHAPTER 15- Ruth May

  1. What happens to Ruth May and where does she go?
  2. What is the Jeune Mou-Pro?
  3. What does Ruth May find in the back of Mr. Axelroot’s plane on the way to Stanleyville? How does Axelroot respond, and what does this reveal about his character?
  4. How does the doctor in Stanleyville feel about what the Belgians have done to the Congo, and what theme does this develop?
  1. The doctor mentions Patrice Lumumba. Why is the man significant, according to the doctor? What does the doctor’s mention of Patrice Lumumba foreshadow?
  1. This chapter is full of important political facts and foreshadowing. What might the author be suggesting by having Ruth May, the youngest Price daughter, narrate this chapter?
  1. Ruth May’s chapter has a snake motif. Find snake references in this chapter to use as textual evidence, and explain what Kingsolver might be trying to convey through her snake imagery.

CHAPTER 16- Rachel

  1. List at least two malapropisms Rachel uses in this section.
  2. How does Rachel’s description of Anatole further develop her character? Give textual evidence to support your answer.
  3. What does Anatole tell Nathan about his parishioners?
  4. What does Nathan’s response to Anatole’s message suggest about his character?
  5. What role does Tata Kuvundundu play in the village? What role did the Prices think he played in the village?
  6. Why is Tata Ndu concerned about Nathan’s church?
  7. What does Orleanna mean when she says, “Well, for one thing, sir, you and the good Lord better hope no lightening strikes around here in the next six months!”
  8. Why does her comment make Nathan angry? What mean-spirited action does he take?
  9. What is the symbolism behind the oval white china platter in this chapter?

CHAPTER 17- Adah

  1. What does Adah spy Anatole doing?
  2. Why does Adah walk back from fetching water on her own?
  3. What news does Tata Ndu bring to the Price family? Why is he proud to share this news?
  4. How is Methuselah a symbol of the Congo? Give textual evidence to support your answer.
  5. Explain the allusion to Daniel and the Lion’s Den.
  6. How does Adah’s escape from the lion develop her doubt about religion?

CHAPTER 18- Leah

  1. How does Leah’s recollection of Adah’s experience with the lion differ from Adah’s account in the previous chapter? Support your answer with textual evidence. Why are the small differences significant to the novel?
  2. How does Nathan use Adah’s escape from the lion to his advantage? How does Leah respond to this?
  1. Who does Anatole sent to live and work for the Prices?
  2. “And to tell the truth, if any of us was meant to do it, it was Ruth May. She tears through her life like she plans on living out the whole thing before she hits twenty.” In your opinion, is this a good or bad quality to have? Predict how this quality might help or hurt Ruth May in Africa.
  1. What illness does Leah contract?
  2. How do the girls’ separate reactions to their hope-chest projects illuminate each of their characters? Give textual support for your answer.

CHAPTER 19- Ruth May

  1. How does Ruth May interpret Adah’s experience with the lion? From whom does this idea of originate? Why is this significant?
  2. What are some of the lessons Nelson teaches Ruth May? How are these lessons different from the kind of lessons she might have learned at home?
  3. What is the significance of Ruth Mays claim that she is “scared of Jesus, too?”
  4. In this chapter, does Leah draw closer to or farther away from her father? How?

CHAPTER 20- Rachel

  1. Explain Nathan’s allusion to the Tower of Babel. Why is it significant?
  2. How does Nathan’s stubborn response to the Underdowns’ suggestion that his family leave at once change how the reader views his character?
  3. What decision does Nathan make for the whole family?
  4. How does Rachel’s narration give the Underdowns’ news even greater impact?

CHAPTER 21- Adah

  1. The Red Wheelbarrow is a famous poem by William Carlos Williams. If you are not familiar with this poem or the poet, you will need to research them. Explain the significance of Adah’s allusion to this poem.
  1. What does Adah want to become when she grows up?
  2. One thematic topic in this novel is the Power of Language. How is this thematic topic emphasized in this section?
  1. How did Adah lose her faith in God?
  2. Who is Adah referring to when she speaks of “those of doubtful righteousness” ? In what ways does this emphasize the thematic topic of Cultural Arrogance in the Western World?
  3. From what ailment are so many children suffering?
  4. How will the Congolese vote on election day?
  5. Who does Adah see leaving chicken bones outside the house?
  6. What does the last sentence in this chapter foreshadow?

CHAPTER 22- Rachel

  1. What does the letter from the Underdowns say? Do you agree or disagree with Nathan’s decision? Explain your opinion.
  1. Who wins the election?
  2. What doe Rachel’s feelings about the newly elected government reveal about her character? Give textual evidence to support your claim.

CHAPTER 23- Ruth May

  1. Why does Orleanna retreat to her bed after Leah and Nathan leave?

CHAPTER 24- Leah

  1. When Leah notices the contrast between the splendor of the Underdowns’ house and the Congolese shacks, how does she respond? What does this reveal about her character? Give textual evidence to support your answer.
  1. Where is the irony in Nathan’s assertion that Americans would “never stand for this kind of unequal treatment”?
  1. If you don’t know Joseph Conrad and The Heart of Darkness, look it up. What does the title of this novel refer to?
  1. In reference to the above question, what is the significance of Lumumba calling the Congo “the heart of light”?

CHAPTER 25- Adah

  1. “Hope” is the thing with feathers is a famous poem by Emily Dickinson. If you are not familiar with this poem or the poet, you will need to research them. Explain the significance of Adah’s allusion to this poem.
  1. Why does Adah call the day of Methusaleh’s death his independence day?
  2. Kingsolver could have led any of the girls to find Methusaleh. How do you think Adah’s reaction to death was different that her sisters might have been had they found him?

THE REVELATION- As a Whole

  1. Given the themes, motifs, and symbols already expressed in the novel, why do you think Nathan is the only Price who does not narrate?
  1. Go back and look at the scripture that opens this Book. What do you think is significant about this verse?
  2. Why do you think Kingsolver chose to end Revelations here?
  3. What have they learned?

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