AFRICAN PROSE
ADICHIE CHIMAMANDA NGOZI: Purple Hibiscus
What aspect of Kambili’s character are revealed during the children’s visits to Aunty Ifeoma?
Explanation
Kambili and her brother, Jaja pay occasional visits to the home of Aunty Ifeoma in Nsukka. The contrast between Eugene’s household and Aunty Ifeoma’s home is strilcing and this reveals aspects of Kambili’s character which have never before been seen.
Eugene’s almost regimental behaviour has left Kambili a withdrawn, taciturn, if not forlorn child. The emotional aridity of Eugene’s home contrasts sharply with the warm, vivacious and liberal atmosphere of Aunty Ifeoma’s home. The children’s visit to Aunty Ifeoma to spend time with her and her children after Eugene has beaten Kambili unconscious marks a watershed in the action of the novel. The short time they spend with Aunty Ifeoma exposes Kambili and Jaja to freedom and cordiality they have never ben exposed to before. Kambili, the quiet, withdrawn girl now starts to ask questions to probe her surroundings. An instance could be seen when Kambili overhear a discussion between Aunty Ifeorna and a colleague of hers about turmoil in the university. Kambili asks Amaka to explain what is happening in the university. In the past, this would have been unthinkable. Now, she is bold enough to question what is happening around her. While Eugene had conditioned her to an unquestionable acceptance to whatever he told her, Aunty Ifeoma’s home has opened up a whole new vista of experience in which the child could demand to have a say in her own future. The chains of enslavement, as it were„ are now falling off.
On the domestic scene we notice a transformation and self discovery of Kambili who hitherto has found it difficult to handle household chores, now becoming a good cook and a warm conversationalist. Another aspect of Kambili’s character revealed in Aunty Ifeoma’s house is her open relationship to members of the opposite sex. Up to now, the dominant man in her life has been her father towering over her like a colossus, willing her to do his bidding and not to ask questions. Now, in Aunty Ifeoma’s house, she meets another man, a different kind of man altogether, Father Amadi. Whereas in the past, the clergy have been synonymous with oppressive long church services made worse by her being compelled to fast for the first time, she meets a clergyman who has a human face. She therefore finds herself falling in love. The shy girl who in the past will not even consider having a relationship with the opposite sex now opens up to a man and starts looking forward to spending time with him.