PURPLE HIBISCUS
chukwuka
Purple Hibiscus is the story of two teenagers, Kambili and Jaja Achike, growing up in a household
under the rule of their devoutly Christian father and against the backdrop of political and social unrest
in Nigeria. Though the Achike family has considerable material wealth and property, they lack joy and
room to grow. Papa’s fanatical devotion to the Christian church dictates the family’s movements and
encourages their devout silence as they attempt to follow Papa’s rules and absorb the beatings that
follow when they have disappointed him. Their story is told from the perspective of fifteen-year-old
Kambili, who desperately wants to please her father and lives in fear of failure. Her brother Jaja is
equally obedient but becomes less docile over time, and tension builds as the family slowly stretches
beyond their confines in attempts to gain freedoms while Papa becomes inexplicably weaker.
The story hinges on the events of Palm Sunday, on which the inciting incident takes place as Jaja
boldly defies his father for the first time. In the book’s first section, “Breaking Gods: Palm Sunday,”
the story opens as Kambili reveals that on Palm Sunday, Jaja refused to take communion at church
and things in the household began to fall apart. Papa’s violent anger is revealed in the first sentence
as Kambili describes how he threw a heavy religious book across the room and broke the glass
figurines displayed on Mama’s shelves. The figurines will return several times in the story as a symbol
of both susceptibility to and survival from Papa’s abuse. The religious book, called a “missal,” which
contains the church readings for the entire year, symbolizes Papa’s use of Christianity as a controlling
and destructive force. In this scene, Papa’s swollen, rash-covered face and unsteady movements
also foreshadow his demise. The remainder of this first section builds on the conflict as Kambili
relates details of how religion is a suffocating force within the household, as well as her tenuous
understanding of the relationship between pain and love. It also reveals the careful movements of the
family as they share a meal, and Kambili’s cautious choice of words as she laments Mama’s broken
figurines and attempts to appease her father with her civilized speech. Fear is also introduced as a
powerful force, as it transfers from Jaja to Papa in his act of defiance against his father.
The second section of the book, “Speaking With Our Spirits: Before Palm Sunday,” is substantially
lengthy and moves back in time to the period before Jaja has defied Papa. In this section, Kambili
explains the way things have always been, with Papa demanding academic perfections from his
children, controlling the family’s movements through their driver, and regularly punishing them with
verbal insults and physical beatings when they step even slightly out of line. As the narrative
progresses, Kambili unfurls the developing conflict as Papa’s control over the family begins to
unravel. The Christmas visit to Abba provides the opportunity for Kambili and Jaja to observe another
way to live. Aunty Ifeoma’s family functions very differently than Papa’s, with laughter and joy at the
center of family life. When Papa relinquishes a bit of control and allows the children to visit Aunty
Ifeoma’s family in Nsukka, Kambili and Jaja have the chance to see what life might be like without
Papa’s constant dominance. The freedoms of Aunty Ifeoma’s home and the relationships Kambili and
Jaja build with her children drive their development as teenagers and as people newly acquainted
with free will. Even though they will return to Papa’s home, they will never be fully under his rule
again.
chukwuka
Purple Hibiscus is the story of two teenagers, Kambili and Jaja Achike, growing up in a household
under the rule of their devoutly Christian father and against the backdrop of political and social unrest
in Nigeria. Though the Achike family has considerable material wealth and property, they lack joy and
room to grow. Papa’s fanatical devotion to the Christian church dictates the family’s movements and
encourages their devout silence as they attempt to follow Papa’s rules and absorb the beatings that
follow when they have disappointed him. Their story is told from the perspective of fifteen-year-old
Kambili, who desperately wants to please her father and lives in fear of failure. Her brother Jaja is
equally obedient but becomes less docile over time, and tension builds as the family slowly stretches
beyond their confines in attempts to gain freedoms while Papa becomes inexplicably weaker.
The story hinges on the events of Palm Sunday, on which the inciting incident takes place as Jaja
boldly defies his father for the first time. In the book’s first section, “Breaking Gods: Palm Sunday,”
the story opens as Kambili reveals that on Palm Sunday, Jaja refused to take communion at church
and things in the household began to fall apart. Papa’s violent anger is revealed in the first sentence
as Kambili describes how he threw a heavy religious book across the room and broke the glass
figurines displayed on Mama’s shelves. The figurines will return several times in the story as a symbol
of both susceptibility to and survival from Papa’s abuse. The religious book, called a “missal,” which
contains the church readings for the entire year, symbolizes Papa’s use of Christianity as a controlling
and destructive force. In this scene, Papa’s swollen, rash-covered face and unsteady movements
also foreshadow his demise. The remainder of this first section builds on the conflict as Kambili
relates details of how religion is a suffocating force within the household, as well as her tenuous
understanding of the relationship between pain and love. It also reveals the careful movements of the
family as they share a meal, and Kambili’s cautious choice of words as she laments Mama’s broken
figurines and attempts to appease her father with her civilized speech. Fear is also introduced as a
powerful force, as it transfers from Jaja to Papa in his act of defiance against his father.
The second section of the book, “Speaking With Our Spirits: Before Palm Sunday,” is substantially
lengthy and moves back in time to the period before Jaja has defied Papa. In this section, Kambili
explains the way things have always been, with Papa demanding academic perfections from his
children, controlling the family’s movements through their driver, and regularly punishing them with
verbal insults and physical beatings when they step even slightly out of line. As the narrative
progresses, Kambili unfurls the developing conflict as Papa’s control over the family begins to
unravel. The Christmas visit to Abba provides the opportunity for Kambili and Jaja to observe another
way to live. Aunty Ifeoma’s family functions very differently than Papa’s, with laughter and joy at the
center of family life. When Papa relinquishes a bit of control and allows the children to visit Aunty
Ifeoma’s family in Nsukka, Kambili and Jaja have the chance to see what life might be like without
Papa’s constant dominance. The freedoms of Aunty Ifeoma’s home and the relationships Kambili and
Jaja build with her children drive their development as teenagers and as people newly acquainted
with free will. Even though they will return to Papa’s home, they will never be fully under his rule
again.
