Theme Of Silence In Purple Hibiscus

Violence affects a healthy family’s relationship, state of mind and well-being, in other words, it’s normal functions. Because of violence, children are forced to endure and cope with mental, physical and emotional trauma leading to a display of impacts on health, development, and wellbeing. The effects build up over time and can impact on every aspect of their life.  How many children and innocent lives must suffer from something unnecessary? Imagine walking into a home late at night to find a child hiding in a corner, with a bloody face and cuts all around their body saying they were self-inflicted or making up other silly excuses like falling down the stairs out of extreme fear. Up to 75% of all acts of domestic violence occurs between the ages 18-24. No child should ever see domestic violence as normal because the moment that happens a future perpetrator has been born. We need to take a stand and refuse to let domestic violence become something we ignore.

Furthermore, those who grew up witnessing maltreatment and violence are more likely to commit the same behavior into adulthood (Hampton, Jenkins, Gullotta, 1996, pp. 21-22). If people get a reaction from their significant other in a particular situation like screaming to get the other’s attention, they will continue to engage in that behavior. Therefore if the problem goes unresolved the pattern will continue, such as flouncing out of the home to avoid an unfriendly argument, people will flounce out again the next time they experience an unfriendly

William, Rachel’s three year old son is crying standing over her as she is slowly regaining consciousness. Her boyfriend, Daniel, was gone; their bedroom door was left cracked open and Rachel was on the couch in their room. Pained around her neck from where he choked her, she tries to wrap her head around how she got to this point. Why does Daniel hate her? What did she do this time? Can she, should she, just leave with William? Rachel realizes she has to get out of the house before Daniel gets back. When she arrives at her mother’s house, her mom is alarmed. Rachel has bruises around her neck and marks around her hairline. Rachel’s mother tells her “You come here every week and you go back to that monster every week. I see these bruises but you must not feel they are a problem since you keep going back to him.” Rachel’s mom walks out of the room frustrated.

“If you eat anything, I’m going to beat you. ¿Entiendes?” (Diaz 37). In this quote the father threatens to beat his son because he does not want him to throw up later in the car due to overeating. In The Glass Castle, the author's father does the same thing when reacting to his children and wife being hungry. “Suddenly, one of Mom’s oil paintings came flying out through an upstairs window. Next came her easel. The crowd below scurried to avoid being hit. Then Mom’s feet appeared in the window, followed by the rest of her body. She was dangling from the second floor, her legs swinging wildly. Dad was holding her by arms while she tried to hit him in the face” (Walls 71). In both quotes the fatherly figures are taking out aggression on their loved ones over seemingly small matters. This can be caused by stress, intoxication, or a mixture of both. Unfortunately, in many cultural situations, it is not uncommon for violence to be used as a way of discipline. In both stories the violence led to negative responses. In The Glass Castle, a whole crowd gathered to watch the family feud which led to the father not being able to find a job. In Fiesta, 1980, Papi was exposed later on for cheating on his wife. This proves that violence is never a good solution to solving family issues and just leads to more problems down the

Furthermore, even if the woman is aware that she is being abused, she may decide not to report the abuse due to various forms of support she receives from her partner. An anonymous survey conducted with South Asian women from ages 18-62 showed that 50.6% of the participants reported that they do not disclose the abuse because their partner provides them with financial and/or social support (Raj & Silverman, 2003). Because these women are less likely to report their experiences with domestic abuse, if they are fortunate enough to escape the abusive household at all, the intensity of the mental illnesses they may develop caused by this abuse is likely to higher due the prolonged time they spent in this toxic situation (Ellsberg et al., 2008).

TOPIC 2: Analyse the development of Kambili in Purple Hibiscus as she moves from strict, fearful obedience to tentative defiance of her father. In your response account for her initial subservience and explain what factors contribute to her increasing maturity and independence.

Chapter six is about family violence, and the chapter discusses other forms of family violence that have not been discussed in this assignment such as wife beating, marital rape, female genital mutilation, child sex abuse, and elder abuse. Every single form of family violence that has been discussed is utterly revolting to think about, but the revolting characteristics of these acts of cruelty cannot keep individuals from discussing these issues. In class we discussed how the family is considered sacred, therefore acts of family violence are frequently trivialized. In my opinion, family violence needs to be taken much more seriously. I find it admirable that individuals respect the bond of family, but the future hope for a loving family bond cannot be used to make the consequences any lighter for those that choose to commit the atrocious acts that are discussed in this chapter. After reading this chapter, I have realized that family violence is a disturbing topic, but it is a topic that should be addressed head-on in an aggressive

The novel Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is a story of a young girl , who tries to find her own voice and speak out against her violent oppressive father. The novel is set in post-post-colonial Nigeria, in a time in which the government was run by a military dictatorship. There are a number of symbols used to help develop ideas in the text; the three most important ones being purple and red hibiscuses and Mama’s figurines. The red hibiscuses are symbolic of the violence in Kambili’s life while the purple hibiscuses symbolise freedom, defiance and the freedom to speak out. The figurines are symbolic of Mama’s quiet character and of the violence in her home. These symbols are there to show the

Domestic violence also greatly impacts the family structure and the relationships between the members. Domestic violence threatens both the relationship between the child and their mother and the child and their father. Children who are exposed to domestic violence do not have an emotionally available parent to foster their development and have a 30-60% higher risk for being abused by the perpetrator (NCADV, 2007); when the father is the perpetrator of the violence, he often knows little about his children, their interests, and progress in school (Crosson-Tower, 2009, p. 84). The mother’s parenting style may also be damaged from domestic violence; the perpetrator may not allow the mother to take care of her children properly or soothe them when they are upset, which can cause the children to believe their mother does not care for them. When a mother is constantly traumatized by domestic violence, it can be more difficult for her to be present and attentive in her children’s lives due to depression, anxiety, and lack of sleep (Centre for children and families in the justice system, 2009). Domestic violence has an impact on the ability for a family to function. The perpetrator may sow divisions between the members of the family by turning them against each other, or favoring one child over the others. There may also be role reversals in families who experience domestic violence; parentification of the children and infantilizing of the mother may

1) Five major issues explored in purple hibiscus are; domestic violence, oppression, religion, education and love.

It is common for parents and their children to have disagreements and to have arguments but sometimes these disagreements can turn into abuse. Children usually use violence to try to “control or bully them” (Parenting and Child Health, n.d.) This violence usually occurs when the child “frightens, threatens or physically hurts them. It can involve using abusive language, pushing, shoving, kicking, throwing things, or threatening with knives or other weapons” ((Parenting and Child Heathen’s.) Children may abuse their parents due to the normalization of that parent getting abused by the other parent within their household. The child may use the parent that abusing the other parent as a model for the way they should act towards their parent as well and justify their actions simply as something that they observed in their household. The violence that children commit against their parents affects that subsystem because it leaves it broken. There is a strain within the parent and child relationship that forms a direct result of constant conflict and abuse between the child and parent. Sometimes, in child-child relationships, an older sibling may become “more aggressive” with their younger sibling because of the abuse that they have witnessed and been exposed to. (Fantuzzo, Mohr, 1999) The children can become socialized by the parents to believe that

TOPIC 2: Analyse the development of Kambili in Purple Hibiscus as she moves from strict, fearful obedience to tentative defiance of her father. In your response account for her initial subservience and explain what factors contribute to her increasing maturity and independence.

“Every year in the United States there are over 3 million incidents of domestic violence. That means that every nine seconds a women is beaten by her domestic partner” (Findeley). There are many women that stay silent when being abuse by their partners. The consequences of staying quiet when obtaining abuse can be dangerous and can also lead to death. Many women do not recognize the importance of the fact that there is in speaking out if they are being abuse by their partner. No woman should take domestic abuse by their partners. Every woman deserves a healthy relationship; A healthy relationship involves trust, respect, and consideration for the other person. Domestic abuse has gotten worse during the past years and is still rising up. One can see that domestic abuse can occur everywhere. Domestic abuse is considered a crime and woman should not keep silent when being abuse.

In Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie the characters Papa and Jaja’s relationship is put to the test when Jaja begins to rebel. When Jaja misses communion that is when everything changes, including Papa and Jaja's relationship. Jaja is forced to grow up at a young age after realizing there is world outside of his father’s home. After becoming his own person Jaja feels even more protective and responsible for his family. In Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie the relationship between papa and Jaja is strained because of Jaja’s disobedience.

The book Silence, by Shusako Endo follows a theme of a silent God who accompanies a believer in adversity. The main character of the book is Sebastian Rodrigues. It tells of Sebastian Rodrigues’ arduous journey halfway around the world to Japan in the 1630s, in order to track down a rumor that his mentor Father Ferreira had abandoned his faith, at a time where the Japanese leaders were extremely hostile to foreigners and Christianity and also suspicious of their intentions. He travels with two other missionaries but one of them falls sick whilst travelling and is deemed unfit to carry on to accompany him. The book is not fast paced, but immensely character driven. For example, we see the growth of Sebastian Rodrigues as a priest. At one point he labels Kichijiro a coward. “Was it possible that he was of our faith – this wretch.” Here we see him being judgmental. However, later in the novel we see him for the first time-sharing a proper