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Book 4, Chapter 52
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Poisonwood Bible, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Freedom, Growth, and Coming-of-age
Religion and Faith
Women and Sexism
Race, Racism, and Culture
Imperialism
Summary
Analysis
During the hunt, Leah killed her first game—a “beautiful tawny beast.” Leah is overjoyed with her success, but during the hunt itself, she was terrified. She had to chase the animal, an impala, through the trees after she shot it. The other hunters are impressed with Leah’s archery. However, Tata Ndu's son, Gbenye, claims that he killed the impala. Nelson defends Leah, saying that he witnessed her shot. Nelson calls Gbenye a “woman” for his poor archery—Leah finds this offensive.
Leah is flushed with success after killing an impala, and yet she gets a harsh reminder that the sexism of her community is still very much in place. Even though she’s proved herself to be a capable female archer, even small children like Nelson still have a sexist worldview deeply ingrained in them.
Themes
