Narration

At the very end of the novel, we discover that the narrator of “The Poisonwood Bible” was Ruth May, the youngest child who had died in Book Four. She is communicating to us from her “safe space” at the top of a tall tree in the Congo - able to see everything - which allows for an omniscient point of view, showing nearly all sides of every conflict. If Ruth May had not been the narrator, the story would be riddled with bias but since she died young and naive, she could only tell the narrative objectively and simply. For example, if Nathan had been the narrator, he probably would make the reader sympathize with his innate need to baptize all the African children; if Rachel were the narrator, the story would be all about her problems with Eeben Axelroot and missing out on her teenage years; if Adah were the narrator, half of the novel would be written backwards; and so on.