Reading response to Purple Hibiscus
Reading response to Purple Hibiscus through page 88.
At first glance, Purple Hibiscus is a book that walks the reader through the life of a wealthy religious Nigerian family. Upon further reading, one can discover that it has a complex storyline with many characters such as Papa living a double life. Papa is the character that I was initially drawn to because he is feared by his family and loved by society. At home, Papa is both religious and abusive. He continually keeps his family aline with God, but he is quickly angered like when he smashed the figures, beat his wife, and screamed at his children for staying at Papa-Nnukwu's house for 22 minutes instead of 15. These actions cause his family members: Kambili, Jaja, and Mama to compete for his love. On the other hand, Papa is viewed as a mini-god in Nigeria, due to the factories he owns, his newspaper, and the generous donations he makes to the church. He is also extremely friendly to the people in his town: he opened up his home to the members of their village to come and receive a warm meal on Christmas. This double-sidedness adds an element of depth and suspense to the story.
When reading Purple Hibiscus, I chose to focus on colonization, style, and culture. I decided to pay special attention to these things because I thought that they would be what differentiates Purple Hibiscus from most other novels. First, colonization plays a huge role in the story as a whole. It is the factor that defines Papa, who is the antagonist of the narrative. Papa's characteristics are shaped by colonization because he believes in a European religion, wants people to speak English around him, and takes afternoon siestas. Secondly, I annotated for style. Through my annotations, I learned that Adichie frequently utilizes similes, metaphors, and onomatopoeias. The author uses these techniques to add and subtract tension and to muffle Papa's abusive behavior, thus allowing the reader to understand somewhat why Kambili, Jaja, and Mama respect him. The final reading focus that I annotated for was culture. Culture is a factor in Purple Hibiscus that Adichie uses to create unnecessary divides between characters such as Papa and Papa-Nnukwu. This culture difference allows the reader to have a taste of the lives and values of the Nigerian people. All in all, Adichie uses many writing techniques to create a level of complexity in her story.
At first glance, Purple Hibiscus is a book that walks the reader through the life of a wealthy religious Nigerian family. Upon further reading, one can discover that it has a complex storyline with many characters such as Papa living a double life. Papa is the character that I was initially drawn to because he is feared by his family and loved by society. At home, Papa is both religious and abusive. He continually keeps his family aline with God, but he is quickly angered like when he smashed the figures, beat his wife, and screamed at his children for staying at Papa-Nnukwu's house for 22 minutes instead of 15. These actions cause his family members: Kambili, Jaja, and Mama to compete for his love. On the other hand, Papa is viewed as a mini-god in Nigeria, due to the factories he owns, his newspaper, and the generous donations he makes to the church. He is also extremely friendly to the people in his town: he opened up his home to the members of their village to come and receive a warm meal on Christmas. This double-sidedness adds an element of depth and suspense to the story.
When reading Purple Hibiscus, I chose to focus on colonization, style, and culture. I decided to pay special attention to these things because I thought that they would be what differentiates Purple Hibiscus from most other novels. First, colonization plays a huge role in the story as a whole. It is the factor that defines Papa, who is the antagonist of the narrative. Papa's characteristics are shaped by colonization because he believes in a European religion, wants people to speak English around him, and takes afternoon siestas. Secondly, I annotated for style. Through my annotations, I learned that Adichie frequently utilizes similes, metaphors, and onomatopoeias. The author uses these techniques to add and subtract tension and to muffle Papa's abusive behavior, thus allowing the reader to understand somewhat why Kambili, Jaja, and Mama respect him. The final reading focus that I annotated for was culture. Culture is a factor in Purple Hibiscus that Adichie uses to create unnecessary divides between characters such as Papa and Papa-Nnukwu. This culture difference allows the reader to have a taste of the lives and values of the Nigerian people. All in all, Adichie uses many writing techniques to create a level of complexity in her story.
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