Purple Hibiscus

The Effect Of Pop Culture on Kambili Throughout Purple Hibiscus Pop Culture has always had a huge effect of teenagers, some teenagers more than others. Although some teenagers are late bloomers, usually by some point all teenagers join the bandwagon. However, there are always outliers such as Amaka and Kambili in Purple Hibiscus by Chiminanda Ngozi Adichie. Amaka has grown up knowing pop culture, whereas Kambili has never known what pop culture even is. As her cousin Amaka pulls her into the mainstream, Kambili learns that sometimes being like other people is sometimes a good thing. Kambili grows throughout Purple Hibiscus through the introduction to pop culture. Kambili learns that things she has been told are sinful, are actually very acceptable in most households. Kambili learns that wearing shorts is not sinful itself, but that it can make you feel sinful things. Kambili borrows shorts and goes out with Father Amadi. She is attracted to him and feels guilty in the car with him because his shorts expose his muscular knee. (Adichie 175). Kambili sees how much more you are able to do when you wear pants. She feels much more free when she wears pants Kambili learns to let her hair down throughout the novel. As Kambili goes out with Father Amadi, he tells her that her hair needs rebraided. Kambili does not notice her hair needs to be redone, because she covers it up constantly to go to church. Kambili has always been told that revealing your hair is sinful. When Father Amadi touches her hair and offers to pay to have it redone, Kambili soon realizes that hair is not sinful. She is overcome with the possibilities of doing her hair, as Father Amadi takes her to get her hair plaited. He tells her she can do anything she wants with her life because it is hers. Throughout these encounters, Kambili realizes that maybe the church is wrong about certain items being sinful. Kambili changes her views on music in church as well as casual music to listen to

Cited: Adichie, Chiminanda Ngozi. Purple Hibiscus. City of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Copyright Year.