Purple Hibiscus Quotes

Purple Hibiscus
“A heartfelt novel that sheds dramatic light on the ugly truths of family violence. Adichie has wrested moments of pure beauty and grace out of the sibling’s quiet rebellion.” In the book Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie their father Eugene abuses them physically and emotionally. Adichie captures Jaja’s and Kambili’s fight back beautifully as they argue and question him more than they ever have before. Family violence tears the family apart and forces the siblings out of the house in more than one occasion. Papa abuses everybody in his family at some point during this book for religious reasons. One of the most brutal ones being when he found out Kambili brought the painting of Papa Nnukwu. Kambili thought to herself “The stinging was raw now, even more like bites, because the metal landed on open skin on my side, my back, my legs. Kicking. Kicking. Kicking. Perhaps it was a belt now because the metal buckle seemed too heavy. Because I could hear the swoosh in the air.” (Adichie 211.) This quote shows how far papa goes in his beatings. He beats Kambili so badly she ends up in the hospital. This act of violence by papa sends Jaja and Kambili to live with aunt Ifeoma for a little while to give papa some alone time. What most people don’t know

For example, when Kambili ate before prayer. “Papa was like Fulani to nomad- Although he did not have their spare, tall body- as he swung his belt at Mama, Jaja and me, muttering that the devil would not win.” (Adichie 102). Jaja, mama, and Kambili all went against Papa here, for they do not have the same views he has for the most part. Those three are closer than they are with papa. They all sort of fear him in a way,because he has somewhat random outbreaks of rage. This quote shows how they all go against papa and pay the price, another good example of the family violence that goes on in this