Purple Hibiscus Essay
In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Purple Hibiscus, Papa is a charitable figure outside the home, but takes on abusive behaviors at home. These stark differences in behavior make it difficult to decide where he morally stands, which makes his death difficult to justify. Overall, Papa is quite caring. However, the manner in which he shows concern towards his children and strangers differs significantly. When Ade Coker’s daughter suffered trauma after his death, Papa “...paid to have her see the best doctors and therapists in Nigeria and abroad” (Adichie 259). Papa shows great kindness towards this family, but does not provide his own daughter with half the care. Kambili describes his metal buckles “[stinging] like bites from giant mosquitos”
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Papa’s strict Catholic beliefs keep him from accepting his father, but he is quick to embrace others. Papa’s caution near Papa Nnukwu is evident in the directions he gives his children: “Don’t touch any food, don’t drink anything. And, as usual, you will not stay longer than fifteen minutes” (Adichie 61). Papa does not let his children have a regular relationship with their grandfather, meanwhile he is inviting a popular pagan figure in the town to “share [his] tea and bread with [him]” (Adichie 60). Once again, Papa is responding to a similar situation in contradicting manners. Papa refuses to embrace his father, but accepts acquaintances with equivalent views. Contradictory deeds, such as these, add to the already existing ambiguity of Papa’s character. Ultimately, Papa’s paradoxical behaviors create difficulty in justifying his death. He deeply hurts his family, but from the perspective of others, he is comparable to a god. His death, just like his actions, affect the greater population in different ways. Due to the impressions Papa left after his death, no one can truly justify his death. Papa’s character stays in the shadows of ambiguity, much like his death, but the ultimate impact of his actions and death profoundly influence all the characters in this
Papa’s strict Catholic beliefs keep him from accepting his father, but he is quick to embrace others. Papa’s caution near Papa Nnukwu is evident in the directions he gives his children: “Don’t touch any food, don’t drink anything. And, as usual, you will not stay longer than fifteen minutes” (Adichie 61). Papa does not let his children have a regular relationship with their grandfather, meanwhile he is inviting a popular pagan figure in the town to “share [his] tea and bread with [him]” (Adichie 60). Once again, Papa is responding to a similar situation in contradicting manners. Papa refuses to embrace his father, but accepts acquaintances with equivalent views. Contradictory deeds, such as these, add to the already existing ambiguity of Papa’s character. Ultimately, Papa’s paradoxical behaviors create difficulty in justifying his death. He deeply hurts his family, but from the perspective of others, he is comparable to a god. His death, just like his actions, affect the greater population in different ways. Due to the impressions Papa left after his death, no one can truly justify his death. Papa’s character stays in the shadows of ambiguity, much like his death, but the ultimate impact of his actions and death profoundly influence all the characters in this