Purple Hibiscus, written by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, is a novel set in post-colonial Nigeria where the protagonist, 15-year-old Kambili struggles growing up torn between two contrasting beliefs; Igbo traditionalism and western Catholicism. Religion as many believe is the hope in a power greater than ones self. It is also a means of worship, moreover as means of people uniting together as one and believing in one God. Religion is a very important aspect and can certainly impact and influence a person’s mentality. Adichie uses two conflicting religions to show the development of Kambili’s character and maturity, as well as explore the tension that is forced unto the her throughout the novel. From the beginning of the novel, the reader perceives Kambili to be a quiet, and timid character, due to her strict upbringing. Her life is set up and organised by her strict catholic father, who is a priest at their local church. Because her father adopted catholicism instead of continuing the path of his ancestros into Igbo traditionalism, Kambili is desperate to earn her father’s approval. Adichie indicates this when Kambili instinctually says ‘God will …show more content…
In this, she told Jaja ‘No!’ with a ‘tight blink’ of the eyes. This indicates that from her father’s insight, ‘it was not right’ to burst into song halfway through the Rosary. But Jaja ‘was full of suggestions’ when everyone broke into song; this suggest that maybe it was not wrong to ‘break into song in the middle of the rosary’. The more time Kambili spends in Nsukka surrounded by her ancestral beliefs, she abandons her schedule and watches television—though she finds it hard to do these things. Her inquisitiveness causes her to begin to disconnect from the pressure that Catholicism