The Poisonwood Bible Allusions and Cultural References

Literary and Philosophical References

• Black Beauty (1.3.4)
• Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1.4.4) (6.1.8)
• Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1.8.4) (3.14.3) (5.12.10)
• John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress (1.8.5)
• John Milton, Paradise Lost (1.8.5)
• Edgar Allan Poe, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1.8.5)
• Emily Dickinson (1.8.5) (3.17.5) (6.3.19)
• Quasimodo from Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame (1.8.34)
• E.B. White, Stuart Little (2.2.5) (3.5.2)
• Bobbsey Twins in Eskimo Land (2.5.9) (2.5.13)
• Nancy Drew (2.5.13)
• Aladdin's lamp from Arabian Nights (2.6.6)
• William Carlos Williams, "The Red Wheelbarrow" (2.8.1)
• Emily Dickinson, "Hope is the thing with feathers" (2.12.4) (3.14.6)
• Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (3.11.5)
• Hester Prynne from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (3.14.10)
• Diana of the Hunt (3.14.10)
• Emily Dickinson, "Because I could not stop for death..." (4.10.1)
• Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (6.1.29)
• Emily Dickinson, "Tell all the Truth" (5.3.1) (5.3.21)
• Sir Philip Sydney, "Come Sleep, O Sleep! The Certain Knot of Peace" (5.7.31)
• William Shakespeare (5.8.69)
• William Shakespeare, The Tempest (5.11.51)
• Emily Dickinson, "A Toad Can Die of Light!" (6.3.1)
• William Carlos Williams (6.3.18)

Historical References

• Patrice Lumumba (referenced throughout)
• Joseph Mobutu (reference throughout)
• Dwight Eisenhower (referenced throughout)
• First Monkey in Space (Prologue.9)
• John F. Kennedy (1.Prologue.9) (2.Prologue.26)
• Dr. Livingstone (1.Prologue.14)
• Herbert Hoover (1.1.12)
• Florence Nightingale (1.8.30)
• World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri (1.8.31)
• Marco Polo (1.10.17)
• Trojan War (1.11.16)
• Eleanor Roosevelt (2.Prologue.26)
• George F. Kennan (2.Prologue.26)
• Mamie Eisenhower (2.1.25)
• Nikita Khrushchev (2.7.9) (2.8.14)
• King Baudouin of Belgium (2.7.13) (2.11.1)
• Joseph Kasavubu (2.7.21)
• Charles de Gaulle (2.7.40)
• General Douglas MacArthur (3.Prologue.22)
• Moise Tshmobe (3.5.60) (3.5.62)
• WI/Rogue (3.17.12)
• Allen Dulles (4.Prologue.8)
• Lawrence Devlin (4.Prologue.8)
• Dr. Gottlieb (4.Prologue.8)
• Waterloo (4.Prologue.15)
• Senator Frank Church (4.Prologue.21)
• Battle of Appomattox Court House (5.Prologue.8)
• Washington Crossing the Delaware (5.Prologue.10)
• Capture of Okinawa (5.Prologue.10)
• Kwame Nkrumah (5.6.16)
• Agostinho Neto (5.6.16) (5.11.8) (5.13.19)
• Pearl Harbor (5.8.45)
• Etienne Tshisekedi (5.10.34)
• Henry Kissinger (5.11.9)
• Karl Marx (5.11.9) (5.11.13)
• Ronald Reagan (5.11.13)
• Princess Grace (6.1.15)
• Albert Schweitzer (6.3.4)

Pop Culture References

• Art Linkletter's House Party (1.1.11)
• Donald Duck (1.2.7) (3.8.50)
• Lone Ranger (1.2.7)
• Cinderella (1.2.7) (5.9.2)
• Briar Rose (1.2.7)
• Dorothy Lamour (1.6.13)
• Three Little Pigs (1.7.6)
• The Lennon Sisters (1.11.15)
• Lawrence Welk (1.11.15)
• "Klatu barada nikto!" Famous quote from The Day the Earth Stood Still (2.1.12)
• The Hardy Boys (2.1.27)
• Rikki Tikki Tavi (2.2.5)
• Buster Brown (2.2.5) (2.3.47)
• Marilyn Monroe (2.3.4)
• "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" (2.3.4)
• Brigitte Bardot (2.3.4) (6.1.13)
• Dr. Kildare (2.3.38)
• Charlie Chaplin (2.3.46)
• The Platters (2.5.21)
• Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (2.7.2)
• Beauty and the Beast (2.7.10)
• Donna Reed (3.4.32)
• Cinderella (3.7.5)
• Snow White (3.8.50)
• Elizabeth Taylor (3.11.4)
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (3.11.4)
• Brigitte Bardot (3.11.4)
• Zorro (3.11.7)
• Humphrey Bogart (3.16.15)
• Rachel references Robin Hood when she really means William Tell (4.2.2)
• Brenda Starr (6.1.29)
• The Four Seasons, "Big Girls Don't Cry" (5.5.8)
• Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, "The Rumble in the Jungle" (5.8.9) (5.9.8)
• Dick Clark (6.1.5)
• American Bandstand (6.1.5)