Purple Hibiscus is a novel written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie set in Nigeria. The story is told through the perspective of 15-year-old Kambili, and is essentially about the disintegration of her family and her gradual understanding of religion. She was born in a Catholic home and brought up with strict discipline. Her father, Eugene, a man who projected himself to outsiders as an ideal Catholic man while subjected his family to various forms of psychological and physical harm, demanded perfection from both the school and at home. If perfection was not achieved by the children, beatings and punishment were inevitable.
A key period that completely changed Kambili and Jaja’s life was the time their stay with Aunty Ifeoma, who encourages them to share their thoughts and speak their minds. Aunty Ifeoma’s household offers a marked contrast to what Kambili and Jaja are used to and in this nurturing environment, they become more open and more able to voice their own opinions. At the same time, their mother-Beatrice poisoned Eugene for unable coping with his continual violence. Kambili has become a woman of eighteen, more confident than before and fell in love with a young priest while Jaja took the blame for the crime. Obviously in the end, they all gained a better future.
The trigger for this domestic tragedy was Papa’s false understanding of religion. Eugene is a wealthy and prestigious businessman as well as a very strict Catholic who dominates his family by imposing a harsh religious regime in the family home. He controls almost every aspect of his family’s life, including imposing a schedule for Kambili and Jaja so that every minute of the day is mapped out for them. On the other hand, he donates considerately amounts of money to the society and church and he is prone to outbreaks of violence. Eugene has two different masks to face public and private.
As Eugene was raised in Nigeria, he rarely uses his native tongue at home and never in public. Also, Eugene carries a shame for his roots. For example, Kambili and Jaja are not allowed to visit their grandfather Papa Nnukwu for more than 15 minutes for he was pagan and even when he was died, Eugene refused to make him a funeral. Because his stubborn in religion, he ignores the basic relationship between his father and him. He refuses any chance of avoiding contact with his father and orders us not to be too close to grandpa.
The title of the novel, Purple hibiscus, which was grown behind Aunty Ifeona’s house, is the clue of the whole novel. Purple hibiscus are both uniquely beautiful and a rare hybrid. To Jaja, the flowers represent freedom and throughout the novel, they are a symbol of an alternative to the rigid life that has been created for him and his sister by their father.