Essay on Motifs from Purple Hibiscus
Rachel Hodges
DP1 English Literature
October 10th 2013
WORD COUNT: 895
Write an essay in which you explore one of the motifs central to Adichie's Purple Hibiscus. What does this motif contribute to our understanding of the purpose or central theme of the text?
How does the motif of nature contribute to our understanding of central themes in the text? In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Purple Hibiscus the narrative voice is a teenage girl who was physically and emotionally scarred by her father. To portray many of the changes that take place in Kambili throughout the novel the idea of nature is recurrently used. It is also used to convey the theme of defiance in Jaja. The motif of nature is also used to convey the physical abuse and pain her father caused her. She describes her and Jaja “always chose the whistling pine because the branches were malleable, not as painful as the stiffer branches” (Adichie 193). The purple hibiscus flower is a representation of freedom and hope. Jaja is drawn to the atypical flower that was bred by Aunty Ifeoma’s “good friend Phillipa” (Adichie 128). The abnormal nature of the flower signifies how out of the ordinary the defiance of Jaja on Palm Sunday was. For Jaja, the flower is hope that something new can be produced. He longs to break free of his Papa’s rule this is portrayed when he takes the stalks of the purple hibiscus home with him, and “[gives] them to the gardener” (Adichie 196) to plant. The taking home of the plant symbolises him taking the insight from Nsukka home with him. Furthermore as the flower blossoms, so does Jaja’s rebellion. “See, the purple hibiscus are about to bloom” (Adichie 253) this is said the day before “Palm Sunday, the day Jaja did not go to communion, the day Papa threw his heavy missal across the room and broke the figurines” (Adichie 253) Kambili’s changing attitude towards nature portrays her stages of transformation. One of the first few times she showers in Nsukka, she finds an
DP1 English Literature
October 10th 2013
WORD COUNT: 895
Write an essay in which you explore one of the motifs central to Adichie's Purple Hibiscus. What does this motif contribute to our understanding of the purpose or central theme of the text?
How does the motif of nature contribute to our understanding of central themes in the text? In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Purple Hibiscus the narrative voice is a teenage girl who was physically and emotionally scarred by her father. To portray many of the changes that take place in Kambili throughout the novel the idea of nature is recurrently used. It is also used to convey the theme of defiance in Jaja. The motif of nature is also used to convey the physical abuse and pain her father caused her. She describes her and Jaja “always chose the whistling pine because the branches were malleable, not as painful as the stiffer branches” (Adichie 193). The purple hibiscus flower is a representation of freedom and hope. Jaja is drawn to the atypical flower that was bred by Aunty Ifeoma’s “good friend Phillipa” (Adichie 128). The abnormal nature of the flower signifies how out of the ordinary the defiance of Jaja on Palm Sunday was. For Jaja, the flower is hope that something new can be produced. He longs to break free of his Papa’s rule this is portrayed when he takes the stalks of the purple hibiscus home with him, and “[gives] them to the gardener” (Adichie 196) to plant. The taking home of the plant symbolises him taking the insight from Nsukka home with him. Furthermore as the flower blossoms, so does Jaja’s rebellion. “See, the purple hibiscus are about to bloom” (Adichie 253) this is said the day before “Palm Sunday, the day Jaja did not go to communion, the day Papa threw his heavy missal across the room and broke the figurines” (Adichie 253) Kambili’s changing attitude towards nature portrays her stages of transformation. One of the first few times she showers in Nsukka, she finds an