The Poisonwood Bible Book 3, Chapter 21 Quotes

The Poisonwood Bible Book 3, Chapter 21 Quotes

How we cite the quotes:
(Book.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote 1

"Don't try to make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal. When you are good, bad things can still happen. And if you are bad, you can still be lucky." (3.21.35)

Anatole tries to get Leah to understand that things just aren't fair. Give it a few decades: she's going to realize the truth of this firsthand.

Leah Price

Quote 2

"God hates us." [...] "Don't blame God for what ants have to do." (3.21.12)

This interaction helps Leah transition from believing that God has the good of mankind at heart, to blaming Him for all the world's troubles, to maybe not believing in Him at all. Talk about a character arc.

Anatole Ngemba

Quote 3

"We all get hungry. Congolese people are not so different from Congolese ants." (3.21.12)

Anatole takes an attitude similar to Adah here: even ants have to eat. And as we see later, the humans are like the ants when they do their hunt. They burn the ground, trap the animals, and strip them of their flesh.