Purple Hibiscus Reading Response

Anthony N. Houston

Professor N. Walker

17 November 2016

World Literature 250G

Purple Hibiscus Reading Response

Purple Hibiscus is a novel written by author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The story is centered in Enugu, a city in Nigeria after colonialism. The main character is, Kambili Achike of whom the story is narrated by. She lives with her Jaja her brother. Like his sister, Jaja is a scholar at school but is reserved and surly. She also lives with her father and mother. In the story, we are greeted with emotional turmoil, promise, and family tides.

The significance of the story is that Kambili and Jaja are victims of their father’s anger. Their father is a devout catholic who in public is a loving man but behind closed doors he is a control-freak, abuser, and barbaric. The story opens with Jaja rebelling against his father’s wishes showing that he has come to an age where he wants to reason for himself.  Both Kambili and Jaja are in works of overpowering hardship and making steps for themselves.

Part of being on the road to adulthood is creating your own individuality. Jaja and Kambili were confined to the path and own identity that their father created for them. He makes their duties and they are discipline when they aren’t carried out. I believe their world changes when they visit their aunt Ifeoma. They were in shocked of what they found in the home. Their aunts home was not full of fancy furniture or a big house. Yet, love and nurture filled the home. Their cousins are able to question authority respectfully and choose their own way unlike Jaja and Kambili. There with their aunt, Jaja and Kambili are encouraged to reevaluate where they are and make their own destiny.