An Analysis of Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie

Purple Hibiscus is a novel about growth including physical abuse; and, a story of maturation written by Chimamanda Adichie . It encompasses both stand positions- the colonial and the post-colonial, with which she explores the existential wrangling of the African identity. However, it chronicles the transition from self-ignorance to self-discovery and self-awareness emphasizing the psychological independence kambili achieves who the author introduces as the narrator, who had a family blessed with material wealth but cursed by violence. We watch Eugene’s family’s fearful acquiescence to Eugene dictates and his children’s watchful veneration of him as they constantly seek his approval and love. The purple hibiscus becomes a metaphor for freedom and independence. While a flower may seem delicate in constitution, purple is historically associated with royalty, divine The purple flower then comes to signify Kambili's urge to bloom, her natural instinct to look for the light as it also symbolizes the fusion between the colors of the Nigerian flag which reinforces the struggle for both a physical and a cultural independence between Nigeria and her colonial master, the British.

The book begins in media res, realizable through flash back. The novel traces the physical and psychological development of the protagonist, Kambili and her brother Jaja. A development which designates their struggle to define themselves, beyond the stiffened, and funless world their Calvinistic father has fashioned for them. Their fussy mercantile father builds a world stuffed with materialistic wholeness, a world that lacks ventilation, which guarantees a steady relationship with the outside when the inside becomes too suffocating. Kambili seems a naïve but functional voice in the revelation of realities. Yes, Adichie achieves a striking success in creating a sensitive character in Kambili; she neatly tucks away the sensationalism that the other ‘new’ writers would have flooded their works