Purple Hibiscus Essay

341 Words2 Pages
In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Purple Hibiscus, Kambili, the main character, changed throughout the story. During her visit to Aunt Ifeoma’s house in Nsukka, Kambili was exposed to different environment and different people. For the first time, she didn’t follow papa’s schedule and wore shorts and lipstick like all the other girls. These changes were the results of Amaka and Aunt Ifeoma’s pressure that they put on Kambili. Amaka acts a catalyst to some extent for Kambili’s changes along with Aunt Ifeoma. Without Amaka’s and Aunt Ifeoma’s pressure, Kambili would have not opened her door to the outer world and new experiences. The inner character of Amaka influenced Kambili to change over time. Kambili was quiet, shy, and always tried to win papa’s love. Her actions were based upon whether papa’s acceptance and always thought about whether papa would love what she was doing or not. She was not doing things that she enjoys, rather things that will give her chance of winning papa’s love. In contrast, Amaka was not a shy person. She was very talkative and Father Amadi had even pointed out how Amaka always asks questions while Kambili is really quiet. Amaka spoke up to what she believes in and says things regardless of winning someone’s love. This had huge influence on Kambili’s changes. When papa comes to Nsukka to take Kambili and Jaja home, Amaka gave Kambili “the unfinished painting of Papa-Nnukwu” and Kambili “hides the painting in her bag quickly.” (Adichie 190) This was the one of the main changes in Kambili because for the first time, she accepted something that she truly wanted. Although, she knew that taking the painting home would upset papa, she still decided to take it with her. She also spoke up to what she believes in when papa found out about the painting. She refused to give the painting to papa and told him that it was her painting. Amaka’s
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