Purple Hibiscus Quotes

She insists Siddhartha should be friendly yet have a powerful voice. She tells him to not become his servant but rather Kamaswami’s equal for she will not take in Siddhartha as a student if he stoops below his position.

Everything changed for Mariatu Kamara

Every day, people make noise whether it be gibberish or intellectual thinking. It comes to many of us naturally and we use our voices all the time to communicate with others, to sing, to yell, and to ….. But many of us are left to ask, what is voice? Voice is a way to express yourself intellectually, make other minds think for themselves, and analyze the world around them causing change in society.

Kambili and Jaja break free from their father, Eugene’s, abusive and controlling ways in the novel Purple Hibiscus. Kambili is a shy and scared girl at the beginning, but by the end she was changed into a beautiful outgoing girl who develops her voice and her laughter. Jaja is more outgoing in the beginning and becomes more protective of his family throughout the book. The change didn’t come to Kambili and Jaja naturally; it came through Aunty Ifeoma and their time away from Eugene. Ifeoma’s rejection of Eugene’s Catholic-driven control inspires Kambili and Jaja to break free.

This is because they live a different lifestyle, they are not constrained to Papa, they are allowed to be free and experiment! “Nsukka air will be good for me, for my recuperation” Father Amadi is another person who changed Kambili. Father amadi is an encouraging person who makes Kambili change. This is shown when Amadi manages to convince Kambili to run after him! In fact she says “i had smiled, run, laughed”, 3 things she had never done before. Because of the fact that Kambili starts to idealize and fall in love with Amadi that she starts to look up to Amadi and not to her father anymore! Father Amadi can be considered as one of her only friends! Aunty Ifeoma also helped kambili become less dependant on papa, this is shown when she takes the schedules from Kambili and Jaja and for the first time in their life Kambili and Jaja are free to do what they like which causes them to change.

A freedom to be, to do” (16). Jaja heavily impacts Kambili by exposing their father’s misconduct and revealing that rebelling against him is not a sin, showing Kambili how she too could be liberated from the world of pain and abuse caused by their father. Additionally, the hibiscuses are relevant to Jaja because after Aunty Ifeoma introduces him to the flower, Jaja begins to

She learns from watching Papa Nnukwu doing his morning prayer (p. 167 – 169) that his traditionalism is a very spiritual thing for him and something that made him happy; happiness her family doesn’t feel after saying their prayers. This is a breakthrough for her as she makes the conclusion for herself and understands herself that there is an important something in Papa Nnukwu regarding his beliefs that is missing in their own lives which revolves around their religion. She also understands her grandfather better and sees and experiences that her father is wrong. This matures Kambili greatly and contributes to her independence of her father.

Father Amadi teaches Kambili to smile. He teaches her that it’s okay to be happy and to express it. He helps break her silence which contributes to her moving away form her father. He helps her through a lot and helps her understand her thoughts and feelings. He also shows her a different side to her religion. A side not only based on the rules but a side based on love and

Jaja’s newfound sense of self leads him to question what his father has taught him. Jaja first finds his sense of self after visiting Nssuka and seeing the freedom that Obiora has. Jaja and Kambili are also exposed to the traditionalist nature of Papa Nnukwu. After returning home Jaja asks if he can “see the painting of Papa Nnukwu” that Amaka painted for Kambili. (Page 208) Jaja knows that if his father, Papa, finds out about the painting, then Papa will abuse both Jaja and Kambili. But, Jaja realizes that no matter what Papa tells him, he wants to understand the peacefulness of Papa Nnukwu and his religion. After being punished abusively, Jaja and Kambili return to Nssuka to take a break from the abusive life back in Enugu. Aunty Ifeoma asks

This also shows that her father, Eugene who prevents his transforming environments to change him, is also trying to prevent Kambili’s environments from changing her, by infiltrating her mind and controlling her life indirectly. For example, her father never showed her any praise unless she did exactly what he says to do. If Kambili did not follow orders, she would be beaten by her father. However when Kambili spends time with her Aunty Ifeoma, her cousin Amaka and a priest named Father Amadi, Kambili slowly realizes that she has been confined by her father all of her life. These three individuals helped Kambili to transform into a congenial and confident young woman who learns how to express her inner feelings. For instance when Kambili states “I love you” (Page.276) to Father Amadi. This burst of feelings were never seen before throughout the begging of the text because Kambili was craven to release her feelings, as she only kept it to herself. However, as she kept on interacting with Aunty Ifeoma, Amaka and Father Amadi, Kambili finally felt that her feelings should be

Finally, Jayanti’s first exposure to the world outside her Aunt’s house and the events that lead after, changes who she really is,

Kambili sees the sips of scorching tea from her father as a representation of his love, this love is very painful. Amadi’s love on the other hand is not the painful kind of love but instead a joyous one.

While visiting Nsukka for the first time, her cousin and aunts outspokenness cause her to be aware of her insecurity. Kambili's cousin, Amaka, is very outgoing and open, she “asked many questions and did not accept many answers” (71), her ideas are always spoken out and she made sure her opinions were known. While speaking her mother, Amaka describes Kambili's behavior as,”funny...strange” (142), when Kambili overhears, she becomes overwhelmed and stressed due to her

Our voices are very special things, that give us more individuality. Every person is aware that we look different from one another, but to also have our own voice is essential. It gives a listener a different perspective of who we are as a person. Our voice shares much more information than the words that we speak. In middle school, I was slightly aware that my voice sounded different from others, and this made me nervous to speak so I would speak very quietly.

Finding my voice became a little clearer the day I asked some guys at a coffee shop why they dared call their waitress as ‘dumb bitch,’ and it was strengthened when an artist I admire and respect told me they liked my writing