Purple Hibiscus Rhetorical Devices

This passage, taken from pages 167 to 169 of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, depicts Kambili’s thoughts while watching Papa-Nnukwu perform an Igbo prayer on the veranda. Adichie utilizes the use of repetition and descriptive imagery to manipulate pacing. She also uses imagery to characterize Papa-Nnukwu and to emphasize his passion towards his gods. The passage ultimately presents the beginning of Kambili’s curiosity towards the traditional Igbo culture. Adichie manipulates time throughout the passage by using repetition and imagery. The passage begins with the word “Chineke!” which means God in Igbo (1). By starting the passage with an interjection a tense tone is created, thus quickening the pace. Afterward, Kambili begins to
The passage continues on with Papa-Nnukwu praying for the wellbeing of his family: “Bless me...Bless my daughter...Bless my son”(9-12) Kambili is surprised that Papa-Nnukwu prays for Papa with the same vigor as he does with the rest of the family. She would expect him not to since Papa calls him a “heathen” and refuses to be in his presence. Papa-Nnukwu believes that the missionaries have placed a curse on Papa, making him colonized and prioritizing religion over family. After he ends his prayer “with a flourish” and Kambili stares at him with amazement
The prayer is nothing Kambili has seen before and she can see the effects of it on Papa-Nnukwu: “His entire body...captured the gold shadows from the lamp flame...Even the age spots that dotted hands and legs gleamed”(20-23). Papa-Nnukwu is completely rejuvenated from the prayer and Kambili cannot help but look at him in astonishment even though it is sinful. She is intrigued by the Igbo culture but, because of her father’s strict orders, she is afraid to pursue and explore it. She can see the transformation Papa-Nnukwu goes through, his navel was once before “a wrinkled eggplant” now “rose higher, still enclosed between folds of skin”(11, 24). Kambili has been forbidden to look at the “heathen” practices. This is her first time witnessing the traditional Igbo prayer and it is nothing like her rosaries, “I never smiled after we said the rosary back home. None of us did”(28). By comparing her rosaries to the Igbo prayer, Adichie shows that Kambili is interested in the Igbo culture since her grandfather is so passionate towards it. She does not feel happiness from her prayers because of the constant strain and pressure her father places on her and Jaja. She feels that this prayer is more liberating than the constricting rosary she is forced to do. By ending the passage with “None of us did” Adichie emphasizes that no one in the household is truly happy with the way they are living their lives (28). The end of the