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Purple Hibiscus Quotes

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The novel Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, follows the 15-year-old protagonist named Kambili, who has a very religious dad that is abusive towards his family, and a 17-year-old brother named Jaja. The children aren't given much freedom, until their Aunt Ifomeia, convinces Jaja’s father, Eugene, to allow them into her village for a bit. Aunt Ifomeia brings Jaja’s grandfather, who is a heathen, to the village after he gets sick, and once Eugene finds out his children were living in the same house as a heathen, he brings them both home and burns their feet as a punishment. Afterward, Kambili goes to the hospital when Eugene finds a painting of their grandfather and punishes her severely for having it; as a result, the children head …show more content…

At the beginning of the novel, Jaja would try his best to follow his papa’s orders, as to make sure he, or his sister, doesn’t get in trouble. For example, “Jaja nudged me…’Let us go, Papa Nnukwu’”(66-67). This quote was when Kambili and Jaja visited their grandfather at his home, and only had fifteen minutes to talk to him. When the time was up, Jaja started nudging Kambili so that they could leave on time, because he did not want Kambili or himself to get in trouble when they returned home. This is one example of how Jaja was an obedient boy, because he does not have the courage to purposely stay longer and disobey his father’s orders. This attitude of his changes as the story progresses, and he starts to speak his mind more often, even around his dad. The novel states, “‘We are going to Nsukka today, not tomorrow. If Kevin will not take us, we will still go. We will walk if we have to’”(261). This is a quote where Jaja wasn’t asking his father for permission to go to Nsukka, he was informing his dad that he was going. This shows that his confidence from the beginning of the novel to the end of the novel grew. He would not have the guts to speak to his father the way he did in the quote, at the beginning of the story. He has grown confident and more comfortable saying what’s on his mind, which shows how he changes throughout the novel. Even though he changed his attitude towards his father, he still continues to protect his family throughout the novel, which is a trait that has stayed

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