Biblical Allusions In Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible

In Barbra Kinsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible Kingolver uses biblical allusions to provide an in-depth analysis of a story, character, etc. For example, towards the beginning of the novel, Leah says that her "father was as tall as Goliath and pure of heart as David" (Kingsolver 49). After conducting research I found out that David was born in Bethlehem, and youngest son of Jesse at the age of 18. I don’t believe it to be a coincidence that Nathan was also born in Bethlehem, Georgia. When David was young he was a Shepherd; Leah also saw Nathan as a “shepherd” specifically while he was in Congo. Nathan also has red hair just like David, and he was strong just like David. When Leah mentions that Nathan “planned to make a demonstration garden” that they would feed the villagers she was alluding to the Garden of Eden (35-36). Nathan was acting as the shepherd that
The reference of the blue flames symbolizes Hell and Nathan, the Devil who was misleading all the villagers with his nefarious words. It also made me think of the Left Behind Series because Nathan is so similar to Nicolae Carpathia due to the fact Nicolae is the Antichrist in the series, or the Devil. Nicolae is handsome and he gets many women just like Nathan does upon the first sight; he also makes false promises, Nathan does as well when he tries to get people to believe that they will be protected when they “step into the light.” However, this statement was proven to be incorrect after the death of Ruth May. I believe Nathan to be Satan or the Antichrist so to speak in the novel due to the fact he appears to be auspicious yet he turns out to be heinous. Kingsolver used these allusions to enable you to further your thinking and expand your mind as you read her novel, The Poisonwood