Purple Hibiscus - Relationship Essay (Kambili and Ifeoma)

The novel “Purple Hibiscus” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells a story of how two Nigerain children rebelled against their very father. For these children to end up rebelling against their father they must first bring about a change in themselves, they must become more mature, more responsible and not so dependent on their father. Kambili is one of those children that does go through a considerable change in her character, she reaches maturity. In fact this novel is a bildungsroman which is a story about a character self-development, her change.

Trace three of the following threads through the novel. In two paragraphs for each explain the various literary effects of each of the threads and how each is related to the theme. Use quotations from the novel to support each analysis.

4c) Religion is explored through setting, Adichie uses Aunty Ifeoma’s home to teach Kambili things about religion different that she had been taught be her father. It was in Aunty Ifeoma’s house that Kambili understood her grandfather’s traditionalist religion and was able to make a link between Catholicism and Traditionalist.

Kambili and Jaja break free from their father, Eugene’s, abusive and controlling ways in the novel Purple Hibiscus. Kambili is a shy and scared girl at the beginning, but by the end she was changed into a beautiful outgoing girl who develops her voice and her laughter. Jaja is more outgoing in the beginning and becomes more protective of his family throughout the book. The change didn’t come to Kambili and Jaja naturally; it came through Aunty Ifeoma and their time away from Eugene. Ifeoma’s rejection of Eugene’s Catholic-driven control inspires Kambili and Jaja to break free.

Their father angry, “His swaying was like shaking a bottle of Coke that burst into violent foam when you opened it. ‘Who brought that painting into this house?’ ‘Me,’ [Kambili] said,” (Adichie 210). From Kambili talking back to her father we can see that she has changed in that she has a voice and courage to talk back to the one person she is most afraid of because he beats her. Although her father beat her she changed for the better and learned from amazing people to speak up and do things she loved and not always listen to her father. When Kambili came back from her Aunt’s village she was different mentally and no longer strictly abiding by her father's ways or her old ways because of the experiences she had at her Aunt’s

While freedom of choice and free speech are privileges in American society, suppression of those freedoms is common among many other societies. In these societies, people are held back without being able to voice their opinions. People that have their voice are able to fight the suppression and have influence on those that do not.. In Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Adichie clearly portrays the differences between characters, especially the ones who have the courage to speak up and the ones that do not. Stripped of simple rights like singing songs and listening to music ,Kambili is withheld from a normal kid’s life. Kambili goes to her aunt's house and sees people with freedom, one of whom is Amaka, her cousin. Amaka throughout the book makes comments that have a significant influence on Kambili. Amaka’s influence on Kambili’s attitude on life and control of her life helps her break free of the caged

By accepting the changes around her environment, Kambili benefited in numerous ways. The individuals who surrounded her within her new environment enabled Kambili to truly express herself, as she began to speak up towards a cause and also interact with the other individuals around her, which is something her initial environment would have impeded her from endeavoring. Additionally, she began to accept the diminutive aspects within her environment, which initially disturbed her. Furthermore, the protagonist Jaja also positively benefitted from his new environment as it enabled him to gradually mature. Though, initially he was not open-minded to numerous aspects around him, within Aunt Ifeoma’s house Jaja began to truly realize that compared to his younger cousin, he is less of a man. Therefore, Jaja learns to become open-minded to his surroundings and attempt a situation, regardless of experience in order to prove that he is a man. Plus, Jaja develops the characteristics of a man, as he is able to question his environment and take responsibility for another individual’s inaccuracy. Eugene, however, conflicts with his environment, as he desires in promoting the benefit and welfare of the individuals around him through his wealth. Nonetheless, he also considers his individual intentions, beliefs, and religion that he supports, which encumber him from change.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus is the story of a Nigerian family in which fifteen-year-old Kambili Achike and her older brother, Jaja, struggle to live up to their father, Eugene’s, impossible expectations. He constantly imposes Christianity on them, despite their Igbo heritage. Kambili is often beaten by her father, along with her mother and Jaja. This toxic environment leads Kambili to believe that silence is normal, and in speaking up for herself she runs the risk of being punished. In contrast to Eugene’s pious nature, his sister, Aunty Ifeoma is a free-spirited woman who also practices Catholicism, but in a much more relaxed manner.

In Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, the protagonist, Kambili Achike, receives very different messages from two important women in her life. Kambili’s mother is a submissive, dependent woman, who teaches her daughter that it is a woman’s job to be taken care of by her husband. Ifeoma, Kambili’s aunt is a single mother, who is confident and independent and knows what she wants. Mama shows Kambili that she has no control over life; she teaches Kambili that it’s better to step back and be quiet. Aunty Ifeoma, on the other hand, shows Kambili that she can take control over her own life, and shows her how to do just that.

He showed me how to make friends, to talk to people and to be happy. In Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, A teenage girl struggles to find her voice because of her oppressive father and his stubborn beliefs. She begins to break free and develop her voice after spending time away from her father and with her Aunt who shows her a free way of life without restrictions. Adichie uses Kambili's journey to depict the theme of silence by displaying the growth of her voice throughout

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Purple Hibiscus focuses on teaching Kambili that there are various ways to show defiance. When faced with difficulties, people react differently based on their lifestyles to create coping techniques. At first, Kambili thinks that only the loud, obvious ways are heard from her experiences with her father and aunt. However she learns that her more subtle ways aren’t without their effectiveness and that she does not need to choose one way of handling things. Papa Eugene can be vocal about his choices because of his lifestyle.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a novel about a Nigerian family with strong religious ties; a catholic family with a strict upbringing. In this analysis I would like to focus on the unpleasant strictness of Papa, the exaggeration of his behavior as the central figure of the family, dominating the rest with misogynistic tendencies.

Purple Hibiscus takes place in Enugu, a city of political conflict in post Colonial Nigeria. The story is narrated by the protagonist Kambili Achike, a teenager and lives with her elder brother Jaja, who excels in academics like his sister but is withdrawn and sullen. Kambili’s father papa is a delightful but a harsh authoritarian whose faithfulness to

He stresses it on them that all traditional customs are devilish and unchristian, warning them against engaging in tradition-related activities and even discouraging them from developing a close relationship with his father. This he does because his father is a traditionalist. Thus the text referring to Eugene, reads: “he prayed for the conversion of our Papa-Nnukwu, so that Papa-Nnukwu would be saved from hell.” He tells his children, “…you will go this afternoon to your grandfather’s house and greet him…don’t touch any food, don’t drink anything. And, as usual, you will stay not longer than fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes” (69). Because of this attitude of their father, what they see: the peace, warmth, love, freedom and laughter in Aunty Ifeoma’s family which does not practice the same type of Christianity which their family does, Jaja and Kambili end up confused and more dissatisfied with their own family. As children they had always accepted the rigid views and rules of their father until they experienced something different at both their grand-father’s house and in Nsukka when they stay for some time at their Aunty’s house. Life in the Eugene’s compound in Enugu is fraught with tension, fear, resentment, confusion and a certain kind of foreboding of falling into the bad grace of the master of

Q: Based on the novel above, write about an important event/s in one of the character’s life, answer with evidence.