Purple Hibiscus

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the author of Purple Hibiscus, grew up in Nigeria then continued her education by studying abroad. When she moved from home, several classmates referred to Africa as a country and pictured Adichie living amongst beautiful landscapes and creatures, but that is not the full story. People who were susceptible to the pitfall of a single story made these first impressions. Adichie grew up outside of a university campus on the continent of Africa. However, the people she met later in life had only heard a one sided story on what Africa was like- gorgeous and poverty stricken. As a child, she often found herself reading books about characters not from her realm- something difficult to relate to. When Adichie wrote this
Following the newfound open-mindedness, Kambili starts to lighten up and learn to laugh. Kambili lived her life structured to a tee and followed a delineated time schedule each day in order to remain at the top of her class. When she receives the notice on her report card that she was ranked second in her class her father says, “You didn’t put in your best this term. You came second because you chose to” (Adichie, 42). After her two-week break from school, her father walked with Kambili into her classroom to see the girl who came in first (Adichie, 46). He then added additional study time to her regime, and Kambili, afraid to disappoint her father, worked extra hard to reclaim her position as the most intelligent the consecutive term. When Aunty Ifeoma urges her brother to allow the children to visit with her, she confiscates their schedules from them (Adichie, 124). “Nne, don’t behave like a guest. Come in, come in,” she tells them upon their arrival (Adichie 114). Persistent in her efforts to get her niece and nephew to further their happiness and partake in the family, she has them engage in household duties, watch television, and even go out to play games with Father Amadi. For the first time, Kambili laughs and falls for someone. She sings along to the Igbo songs and slowly forgoes her father’s opinion of disregarding the schedule and engaging in heathen ways. The single
As previously stated, the author wanted to tell a story of her culture. She had grown up reading books of foreign characters that she could not identify (TEDtalk). When she left her home for school, she overheard conversations about the weather- something she and her associates never seemed to discuss because “it was always hot” (TEDtalk). The single story is relevant in this case because African books were few in number and difficult to find. This being said, her colleagues out of her country were susceptible to the stereotypes of Nigerians. People often suggested that she lived in a hut, not knowing she had grown up just outside of a university campus and began writing at a very young age. This is a definitive example of a single story’s pitfall. While being away from home, she encountered those who not only thought of Africa as a country, but new very little about the multiple civilizations within it. Adichie was responsible to give her side of the