The novel “Purple Hibiscus” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells a story of how two Nigerain children rebelled against their very father. For these children to end up rebelling against their father they must first bring about a change in themselves, they must become more mature, more responsible and not so dependent on their father. Kambili is one of those children that does go through a considerable change in her character, she reaches maturity. In fact this novel is a bildungsroman which is a story about a character self-development, her change.
At the beginning of the novel, Kambili is seen as immature and young because of the fact that she is very observant but does not say anything because she is a rather shy girl. She is also shown as a naive and innocent, which makes us feel for her more. Kambili is also obsessed with her father, she thinks he is always right and as a result obeys him. She is only happy when she makes her father happy, this is shown when she sleeps happily when she knows that her father was proud of her that she came first in class. Kambili is considered as a “backyard snob” because she never talks to anyone, never had any friends. This is not only because Eugene is very strict with his schedules and wants Kambili to be constantly studying but also she is a very shy girl and cannot express her emotions, in fact she barely ever laughs; “i was not sure wat my laughter sounded like”.
Kambili can be compared to Amaka, her cousin, who is the complete opposite of Kamibli. Amaka laughs, wears make-up, is a lively girl, listens to music and basically is like another normal teenage girl. However Amaka is one of those people who caused a change in Kambili because these two people became very close, in fact they become like sisters: tell stories to each other and Amaka helps her to cook. Amaka helps Kambili to become more open and helps her make friends.
Amaka is only one of the many people that