ipl-logo

Purple Hibiscus Symbolism

1052 Words5 Pages

Purple Hibiscus is a fictional and non-fictional book, written by an Nigerian author named Chimamanda Adichie. Chimamanda Adichie uses many different figurative languages throughout the whole book, but the one that caught my eye was symbolism. Symbolism is when authors use symbols to represent ideas and emotions without actually writing it. Authors mainly use symbolism to engage readers to keep reading. It gives readers a deeper thought, that urges them to continue on with the book. Symbolism is used often in Purple Hibiscus to demonstrate different ideas. Red is used in a bad way towards Papa when he is stressed and upset. Red is also used when Papa is outraged. The color red is a symbol, especially for Papa. Red is associated with Papa whenever he is feeling unsteady, fatigued, and upset. Red is used to show flaw or threat …show more content…

Kambili and jaja have a portrait of their grandfather Papa Nnukwu, hidden in Kambili’s room without Papa knowing. They both know Papa wouldn’t want the portrait anywhere near the house, but they still kept it anyways. Kambili knew they were gonna get caught, she specifically said “I knew Papa would come in to say goodnight, to kiss my forehead. I knew he would be wearing his wine-red pajamas that lent a slightly red shimmer to his eyes. I knew Jaja wouldn’t have enough time to slip the painting back in the bag, and that Papa would take one look at it and his eyes would narrow.” (Adichie 209) While they were in there looking at the portrait papa walks in on them and sees the painting. Why is it that kambili know Papa’s pajamas and eyes were gonna be red? She knew something bad was bound to happen, which is them getting caught so she automatically knows red had to be involved. This shows that red is a symbol and it’s always affiliated with Papa when it’s an negative situation. There is no way Kambili can just guess that. It has to happen frequently enough for her to

Show More
Related
208 Words | 1 Pages

Red is a symbol for jealousy or anger, blue is the symbol for sadness, yellow is happiness, and pink is for love. Colors don’t always have to be emotions, green often symbolises nature or money. Water is another symbol it symbolises purification like during a baptism. Animals can also be symbols. Dogs are often symbolised as trustworthy while snakes are definitely not trustworthy.

Read More
434 Words | 2 Pages

During the book Of Mice and Men George and Lennie have one goal and that is to buy a little piece of land out in the country and settle down. They showed a lot of passion while talking about that piece of land like when Crook was talking to Lennie “ What rabbits. We're gonna have rabbits an a berry patch. your nuts” (143 John Steinbeck) This shows how Lennie was really planning on moving to this little piece of land and how passionate he was about it and this passion represents the color red.

Read More
991 Words | 4 Pages

Victor always wearing red helps the viewer to subconsciously remember the emotions that Victor feels. All three of these symbols help to aid

Read More
252 Words | 2 Pages

In the picture the overall color is red and this represents the anger they had inside, for not being able to stand up for themselves

Read More
638 Words | 3 Pages

“He wraps my long red scarf around his neck, the one I wear myself during the day to tempt my suitors.” The color red is often associated with the the fatality of innocence. When someone loses their virginity, when a girl first gets her period, and when a child loses their first tooth, they all bleed red. Red represents lust, rage, desire, danger, and malice.

Read More
1210 Words | 5 Pages

All of this red is a reminder of the blood that will be spilt: hers and Lennie’s. It’s foreshadowing on another level, too, as George later tells Slim that Lennie had a run-in with a girl in a red dress in Weed. She gets three reactions her, which exemplify how men react to her throughout the novel. George avoids her, looking away, calling her ‘jail bait’ and a ‘rat trap’.

Read More
679 Words | 3 Pages

Consider this, throughout all manifestations of human culture colors are given different symbolic meanings. Red, is one example of this, and is often used to represent the extremes of human emotion. Red is the color of anger, love, passion, determination, and even adventure. In The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne uses red to personify Hester. Some examples include the scarlet letter Hester wears, the rose bush, and even Pearl’s extravagant, crimson dress.

Read More
471 Words | 2 Pages

The movie, “The Sixth Sense,” the color red take a great place in the film. Symbolism was shown as the color red to help the filmmakers express the movie with one color. The color red symbolized the crossover of the dead and alive worlds and also means protection. The color red is used to show the audience the crossover of the two different worlds which Cole is scared of. Many props and clothing were usually red to indicate protection or death.

Read More
570 Words | 3 Pages

The repetition of the colour “red” symbolises danger and blood which foreshadows her death at the end of the

Read More
667 Words | 3 Pages

It was also connected with Julian’s mother when she was angry with him because he crossed the aisle to sit beside the African American. Also when her blood pressure was going up and he was looking at her with a smirk on his face. Carver’s mother was another connection with red because she had a red pocket book on her arm when she swung at Julian’s

Read More
863 Words | 4 Pages

Therefore, the usage of red color represents hunger of democracy. By performing the O Heroi, the artist indicated that government needed a huge demand of justice and

Read More
828 Words | 4 Pages

Red is also used to exemplify other powerful emotions in the novel. Again, when looking at the character of Paul D, red is significant in that it symbolizes the opening of his heart after having intimate interactions with Beloved. In this moment, red is not

Read More
1508 Words | 7 Pages

One illuminating incident, where Papa finds his children in possession of a “heathen” painting and destroys it, serves as a “window” that allows readers to

Read More
1299 Words | 6 Pages

This red also represents the upcoming danger. The Witch then drastically changes appearance during the first act, from a dark, ugly, and old witch to a light, beautiful young woman. In terms of her costume, she still wore purple, but in a much lighter shade, allowing for the connection between her and the Baker and his wife to remain and her to be considered “good”. However, she soon turns to a darker purple again. This change represents a deep understanding of what it means to be “good” and “bad”.

Read More
554 Words | 3 Pages

Although most of the work is covered by subtle colors, there is a small area of red in the form of a fire. The color red is used to signify passion, energy, strength and power. This sharp contrast between the red and blue is apparent and is done on purpose and distinctly. As you can see in the artwork, the fire is representing his agony.

Read More

More about Purple Hibiscus Symbolism

Related Topics

Open Document