Reading response to Purple Hibiscus

     Purple Hibiscus is a story centered around the idea of change. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the author, begins to progressively utilize the element of contrast to better express Kambili's thoughts and feelings. The first concept introduced in Purple Hibiscus was the element of religion. As the story develops, this idea of religion takes two forms through Father Benedict and Father Amadi. After, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie divides the concept of religion; she begins separating Papa from Aunt Ifoema, Nsukka from Enugu, and so on. The reason for this harsh contrast between characters and lifestyles is to render Kambili lost between which ideas to believe; does she follow what she believes or what she was raised to believe? These questions are not directly stated in the text be are evident in the manner Kambili's brain processes situations. An example of Kambili making this decision to chose a side appears on page 184:
"Jaja bent down and covered Papa-Nnuwku's body with the wrapper, but he did not cover his face even though the wrapper was long enough. I wanted to go over and touch Papa-Nnuwku, touch the white tufts of hair that Amaka oiled, smooth the wrinkled skin of his chest. But I would not. Papawould be outraged I closed  my eyes then so Papa asked if O had seen Jaja touvh the body of a heathen-it seemed more grievous, touching Papa-Nnuwku in death- I could truthfully say no, because I had seen everything that Jaja did. My eyes remained closed for a long time, and it seemed that my ears, too, were closed, because although I could hear the sound of voices, I did not make out what they said. When I finally opened my eyes, Jja sat on the floor, next to Papa-Nnuwku's sheathed frame. Obiora sat on the bed with Aunty Ifoema, who was speaking."
Through the above quote, one can infer that this was, in fact, a situation that Kambili battled with the decision to do what feels right or to do what Papa wants. In this case, Kambili chooses to follow Papa's wishes, which creates another example of the contrast between her and her brother, Jaja, because Jaja decided to do what he felt was right, morning over Papa-Nnuwku. 
     At this point in our reading, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has given each main idea/character an opposite. This division of ideas has completed its purpose of bringing out Kambili's thoughts and making her chose a side between her past and present lifestyles, which has left me wondering how it will affect the story in the future. For the remainder of the book, I believe that we will see more character growth from Jaja and Kambili, but when they return home, Kambili will quickly fall back into her old habits. The reason I think this is because Jaja seems to be more independent, and on Palm Sunday, he appeared to act very similar to how he currently behaves. On the other hand, while Kambili is slowly beginning to adjust to her new lifestyle, but the Kambili we see on Palm Sunday resembles the Kambili from the beginning of the book. This could be because she is resorting to her old way of life, or she could have just been in shock at her father's fit of rage, and in the events that follow Pam Sunday, she will act more like how she is while in Nsukka. Either way, the element has played an impactful role in shaping the characters in Purple Hibiscus.