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---
title: Random Thoughts on Purple Hibiscus
date: 2022-12-10
---
These are some random, unorganized thoughts on Purple Hibiscus,
particularly around the bildungsroman of Mama.
Adiche wrote in chapter one that Mama polishes the figurines often,
especially after episodes of family violence, suggesting that the
figurines were of symbolic importance to Mama. After they were shattered
as Papa flung his missal at Jaja and missed, "it was not just the
figurines that came tumbling down, it was everything", suggesting that
the figurines symbolizes family unity. This indicates a critical change
in Mama—from someone that views herself as a "wife" and a "woman" and
truly believes that Papa is correct in violence and punishment and that
such violence is justified, to a person who understands the importance
of independence and freedom and opposes tyranny.
I believe that this sudden change is uncanny when considered from a
relatively logical perspective. The figurines merely symbolize the
family environment, and logically it makes little sense that Mama would
perceive "the figures broke" as a fundamental change in the family
environment—in real life it's hard to imagine someone being so sensitive
to symbolism. I will need to look through the novel again, but I do not
currently recall prominent foreshadows of Mama's perception of the
family environment falling apart in the story's timeline before Palm
Sunday. These might just be subtly hiding somewhere waiting to be picked
up by the cautious reader, but if such foreshadows are actually present,
Adiche may be hinting at the tendency for people to not consciously
realize or to intentionally hide subtle feelings until a point where the
pressure could not be held any more, and emotional, irrational acts of
desperation inevitably commence, reflecting on the futile nature of
humans trying to approach rationality but failing to do so.
Alternatively, a simpler explanation would be that Adiche is trying to
highlight the sensitivity to seemingly irrelevant symbols of emotional
and irrational side of people. I believe that both of these are possible
interpretations of the novel on first read, but some close analysis in
the future or further knowledge of context, such as Adiche's family and
cultural background, may be in favor of one particular explanation. I'll
see when I get to reviewing the whole novel, and I believe I shall take
extra care on the part after Mama comes to Aunty Ifeoma's after Papa
breaks the bible table on her and causes another miscarriage and her
exact actions on Palm Sunday.
Further on in the novel, Mama then commits the "desperate act" of
poisoning Papa to death, after which she experiences another change in
personality. She becomes fairly robotic and rarely displays emotions,
which in and of itself could be considered an unnatural emotional state.
This reflects how constant emotional pressure, and likely her own guilt
of killing a supposed "loved one" tends to make people numb and
hyposensitive to emotional stimuli, creating depressive dissonance.
Kambili's anger for Mama, but ultimate understanding, the former of
which hasn't really occurred before in the entire novel suggests how
even after turmoil in constant domestic violence and unhealthy family
relationships, death is ultimately empty in its very nature. This in
turn reflects that Kambili, who may be considered to be in the most
healthy mental state in the her inner family, is able to understand and
perceive emotions from the perspective of others and appreciate how
there is a sensitive and kind part of everybody. However, I'm not sure
how this interpretation could extend to political violence, which is
routinely compared with against domestic violence and religion
throughout the novel. It could be argued that Adiche wants to present
the inevitability of power dynamics in modern society, but I doubt that
that's the actual point of the novel.
(Then there's Jaja getting into prison and the weeks before he gets out
of prison and such, which gets messier.)
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