Kambili and Jaja in Purple Hibiscus Essay Sample

In the given extract that takes place in "Speaking with Our Spirits: Before Palm Sunday," we see a crucial and highly distressing part of the novel, a turning point that changes the characters of Kambili and Papa for the rest of the novel. It shows Kambili and Jaja returning from Nsukka after the death of Papa Nnukwu, their grandfather. In the short period of time when they were there with him, they began to develop a good relationship. This was furthered by Amaka, giving them a portrait which they look at to remember their grandfather. When they look at the portrait, they do not hesitate or attempt to hide it, as they know that Papa will see them. When he does see them staring at his father, he begins to overreact due to the built-up stress of rats being placed in his factory, subsequently shutting them down, the government poisoning him to show their power, and lastly, the death of his close friend, Ade Coker. This combination leads to him unleashing his built-up emotions on his daughter. Kambili. Adiche has created a moment that encapsulates the reader, in the story, through the effective use of the Irony of Papa, the emotional diction, sentence structure, and lastly, how Kambili reacts.

I believe Catholicism is presented in today's society as the following qualities. Firstly, love, in which a person will love everyone despite their religion, forgiveness, the essence of not fixating on people's mistakes, being nonviolent, not physically damaging a person, a sense of being truthful, and a concept of humility. However, Adiche has created a sense of irony in which Papa, a person defined in the novel to be submerged in Catholicism, does not demonstrate any of these qualities. He instead misinterprets God's words. Adiche has also portrayed him as not having these qualities but rather the opposite characteristics. This is vividly seen when he does not forgive his children for looking at the painting of their late grandfather just because he was a "heathen" in his point of view. This goes against the ideals of a catholic. He also acts violently against his children, in what he thinks is the name of God, but instead is his irrational rules that do not represent Catholic guidelines. All of this contributes to making the moment so shocking, like the fact that Papa goes against everything he quote on quote stands for; He violently punishes her family for not following his command and prohibiting his family from having a sense of freedom. Lastly, we can see how much rage Papa felt as he changed from English to Igbo, a language he describes as berserker-like and heathen; this is shocking, as he contradicts himself when he says a sophisticated person uses English.

If we look at the presentation of Kambili before this moment in the extract, we can see that she typically idolizes her father, despite his violent actions. This moment shows the readers her growth as a character in the novel, as I believe we can finally see her take responsibility for her actions. This is a stark contrast to earlier in the novel, where she lets other people take responsibility but also keeps quiet and would not speak her mind. This is what makes this moment so significant when she "dashed to the pieces on the floor" to collect the scraps of the torn painting, an action that Kambili would have never done before. This creates the effect of significance as the character of Kambili progresses, but also, we see her finally have a relationship with her grandfather.

Adiche uses figurative language and hidden meanings to help make this section of the novel a shocking and significant moment in the play. The Repetition of "I did not…" and "I knew…" helps to make this moment significant, as it emphasizes that Kambili has begun to break out of her shell and finally has her stance, which is separate from her fathers. The short phrases effectively show how despite her knowing that her father was coming to say goodnight. Kambili did not bother to hide the painting but instead wanted to pay tribute to her late grandfather; this makes the moment shocking and significant as she can finally make up her mind. The use of "wine-red pajamas that lent a slightly red shimmer to his eyes" helps to give readers an insight into what would happen shortly. This is because red has connotations of blood and rage. This helps to emphasize the extent of the damage that Papa would do, making the readers help develop a sense of disgust as this time, Papa has gone one step too far when he beats his daughter to near death. When Papa uses the simile, "swaying like shaking a bottle of coke that burst into violent foam when you opened up,".It helps to show how much stress Papa was taking from his factory, government, and the death of a friend. This has led to him unleashing all his emotions on Kambili. The simile also helps to show how violent the beating would be worse than the previous times, which makes the moment even more shocking.

The use of short sentences and the reaction of Kambili help Adiche create a sense of distress and importance as they drive up the pace. The moment is significant as we finally see Kambili take responsibility when she tells Papa that the painting is hers. "It's mine" is significant as Kambili would generally stay quiet before this moment. An example of this was when she was beaten for eating food before mass; she needed the food for the medicine to deal with her menstrual cramps. However, when Papa caught her, she did not bother to explain. She just took her punishment. Adiche uses Kambili's reactions to show the passage's significance. When Kambili sees Papa tear the painting, Kambili dives into pieces and says, "No!" this helps to show how much Kambili is beginning to change. She would typically never disagree with Papa's actions and generally stay still. When Kambili curls into "the picture of a child in the uterus." It helps create the effect that she did not want to see her father, the person she idolizes, beat her; this is shocking as it still shows that Kambili still loves him but is beginning to develop into her person.

The extent to which Papa beats Kambili is also shocking, as we see him lose all sense of rationale. Kambili describes the kicking as "stung like bites …" "…from giant mosquitoes". The use of "stung" helps create that Papa's "metal buckle" was piercing into Kambili's skin. This makes the moment ten times more shocking, as we see a father hurt his daughter, especially for petty and stupid reasons.
To conclude, I believe this passage represents the worst showcase of Papa in the entire novel, as due to prior elements, this scene helps to put the nail in the coffin as Papa snaps. This shows his true colors -- a disgusting and hideous tone in which his metal buckles dig into his daughter. The scene is also very significant because Kambili is now beginning to become her person, who has her own opinion and must take responsibility for their actions.