The Progression of the Poisonwood Bible and The Demorcratic Republic of the Congo By Jeff Randall and James Duke
By jrandall_17
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Patrice Lumumba Starts the First National Party
After being falsely imprisoned for embezzling post office funds, Lumumba was released and created the Mouvment National Congolais (MNC), a party that supported the independence of the Congo and a centralized government. -
The Price Family Leaves Georgia
A Baptist family leaves on a mission to spred Christianianity throughout the Congo. -
Period: to
Time in the Congo
The time that the Price famliy spent in the Congo. -
Ruth May Teaches the Children "Mother May I"
Ruth May and the other daughters of the Price Family start to form friendships with the rest of the villagers and begin to come together with their new society. -
Adah Almost Dies
While walking back to the village by herself, Adah is stalked by a large jungle cat who should've eaten her. Miraculously it chooses to eat a young buckbush instead. This event foreshadows the death of Ruth May by showing us a glimpse of how real the Congo is and how not only the weak die in the jungle. -
Patrice Lumumba Wins Preliminary Election
Lumumba won the election for the Nationalist Party and was appointed Prime Minister. -
Reverend Fowles Visit the Villago
Reverend Fowles and his family travel to the village in a boat on the river, where the Price family is located, bearing gifts. They give food, medicine, and gifts to all of the villagers. Mr. Price gets into an arguement with Reverned Fowles about their different interpretations of the Bible. -
Belgian Congo Achieves Independence
The Belgian Congo became independent of Belgium and renamed itself "Republic of Congo." Shortly after hundreds of thousands of Europeans began fleeing the country and the new Congolese government took control. -
Ants Attack Village
Because of an intense drought, ants have been forced migrate to other parts of the jungle. The run rampant over the village where the Price family lives and eat everything in their path. During this time Orleanna chooses to save Ruth May instead of Adah and the relationship between Adah and her mother is never the same. -
Lumumba is Excused From Office
Lumumba is dismissed from office by Kasavubu, the current president of the Congo. Lumumba declared that Kasavbu had made an unconstitutional and illegal move and won the vote of the senate. The country became split by the two political groups that were trying to claim presidency. -
Coup D’état Incappasitates Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu
Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu are put under house arrest by Colonol Mobutu of the Central Intelligence Agency. Lumumba sneaks out past the supervision of United Nations troops and attempts to create his own government and army. -
Village Vote for Jesus
Tata Ndu is tired of Nathan preaching to his villagers so they take a vote on whether to adopt Jesus into their views or keep their traditional religous views. Despite Nathan's outrage, Jesus loses 11 to 56 to the traditional religion. This is an example of Tata Ndu adopting Democracy into his village. -
Lumumba is Captured
Mobutu troops caught up with Lumumba and his army and captured him. He was later put in jail and put to trail by the United Nations for attempting to make a rebellious and dangerous army. -
Village Hunt
Famine is becoming common throughout the village due to draught, so Tata Ndu decides for the entire village to go hunting. They burn a huge circle and round up all of the animals and kill them as they leap from the flames. Because of this the village gets into a huge fight with each other over whose animal is whose and whether or not Leah should've been allowed to hunt with the men. -
Ruth May is Killed
Nelson and the Price daughters find a green mamba snake in the chicken house early in the morning. When the snake leaves it bites Ruth May above the heartm killing her shortly after. -
Lumumba is Killed
Lumumba is killed by Katangan forces after being given support and permission by the United States. This cleared all obstacles preventing the United States from access to the copper and diamond mines in Katanga. -
Orleanna Price and Daughters Decide to Leave the Congo
After the death of Ruth May, Orleanna finally gets fed up with the Congo and makes the decision to leave with her last three daughters. Before she leaves she buries Ruth May and gives away all of her stuff to the Congolese. -
United Nations Intervenes
The United Nations Security Council adopted a plan which authorized all appropriate measures to "prevent the occurrence of civil war in the Congo, including ... the use of force, if necessary, in the last resort" This occured because of the deaths of European and Americans who were in the country -
New Congolese Rebels Emerge
Thousands of Congolese rebels began calling themselves Simba and revolting against the government. By August they had captured many towns including Stanleyville and they set up governments in these areas. Took many years to suppress these rebels because of the thousands of hostages they took. -
Leah Marries Anatole
After Anatole gets released from prison he meets up with Leah and they get married. They than move to the village where his mother lives and learn that Pascal was killed by soldiers and that Leah's father is trying to continue his work even though he is making no progress. -
Mobutu Gains Power
WIth help from the CIA Mobutu gained control of the whole country in a dictaorship fashion. He endured one of the Congo's longest regimes. An extremely corrupt time period for this region due to his greediness. He massed a fortune of around 5 billion dollars while his country was one of the poorest in the world. -
Leah and Anatole Visit the United States
After having one kid, Leah and Anatole decide to travel to the United States to decide whether or not to live in America. They visit Adah and are amazed by the abundance of food and wealth in America. -
Zaire
After a quick government takeover of the area know today as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mobutu Sese Seko won in an unopposed election for Prime Minister of a newly founded nation, Zaire. The name was chagned for 32 years until Mobutu died and Zaire had succumb to war and revolution. -
Rachel Goes Back to America
After having three failed marriages Rachel decides to leave South Africa and travel back to America. She has no remembrance of what ir's like there and she hopes to be reunited with her family. -
Adah Cures Herself of Illness
After studying Epidemiology at a university, she becomes well known at the Center for Disease Control. During this time she has operations done on her that take away her illness and allows her to be reletively normal. -
Daughters Reunite in America
After years of not seeing each other, the three daughters of Nathan and Orleanna Price are reunited. They talk about their father and Ruth May's death. They also discuss their mother and how the Congo has shaped each of their lives.
