Purple Hibiscus: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

One day Father Amadi visits with a list of English names for Amaka to choose from for confirmation. He assures her that she will never have to use the name again after the bishops says it. Amaka still refuses to take an English name. She says that they should be moving forward and asserting that Igbo names are just as valuable and godly as English names. Aunty Ifeoma gets irritated and snaps at her, and Amaka goes into her room to listen to music. The next day Amaka does not join the other young people being confirmed, with English names pinned to their white clothes.

Aunty Ifeoma decides that they should finally make the pilgrimage to Aokpe. Jaja says he does not want to go, and Obiora agrees to stay with him and Chima. Amaka is sure that Father Amadi won’t want to join, but he does. She says that it must be because of Kambili. Ifeoma drives the two hours to the village, and Father Amadi and Amaka sing in the car. Sometimes Kambili joins them.

They reach Aokpe, and it is crowded with cars and Catholic pilgrims. Everyone is packed together, praying and shouting and seeing visions of the Virgin Mary everywhere. The family stands under a huge tree with orange flowers. The young girl who first saw the visions emerges from the crowd, and as she walks past the tree seems to shake. Suddenly Kambili sees the Virgin everywhere: in the sun, on her hand, in a stranger’s smile.

Kambili wants to linger, but Aunty Ifeoma says they should leave before the crowd. Amaka and Father Amadi tease each other, but neither will admit whether they thought the apparition was real or not. Kambili suddenly says that she felt the Blessed Virgin there. She wonders how no one else felt what she did. Father Amadi looks at her, and then says that he agrees; “something from God was happening there.”

Later Kambili goes with Father Amadi as he says his goodbyes to some families. After one visit, as they are getting into the car, Kambili suddenly says “I love you.” Father Amadi presses his face against hers but doesn’t kiss her. He tells her that she is beautiful, and that she will find all the love she needs. Kambili thinks that he is wrong. As they drive home Kambili looks out the window and cries.

When Kambili gets home, Aunty Ifeoma asks her what is wrong, but Kambili won’t say. Aunty Ifeoma asks Kambili to pray that she gets her visa, as her interview is tomorrow. Kambili agrees, though she knows that she won’t actually pray, as she cannot pray for what she does not want. In the bedroom Amaka is listening to one of her favorite musicians, Fela, and she is surprised when Kambili starts singing along. Amaka complains that she won’t be able to find Fela tapes in America.

The next day they are all nervous about Aunty Ifeoma’s interview. She drives up and says that she got the visa. Obiora and Chima are ecstatic. Ifeoma explains how arbitrary the whole process was, and how lucky she was to get the visa. Amaka sadly asks when they must leave, and Ifeoma says in two weeks. She will have to ask Papa to help buy the plane tickets, so they will go to Enugu with Jaja and Kambili soon and stay there until they leave. Ifeoma tells Jaja and Kambili that she will convince Papa to send them to boarding school no matter what.

Father Amadi visits on his last day in Nigeria. Obiora comments about the missionaries now coming from “darkest Africa” to reconvert Europe. Father Amadi asks Kambili to spend a last hour with him, but she refuses, suddenly angry that he is leaving. She asks if Aunty Ifeoma had asked him to take her to the stadium that first day. Father Amadi says she did not, and every time since then he took her because he wanted to. Kambili looks away, trying not to cry. Father Amadi says he will come back in the evening, and he drives off.

Amaka comes out and laughs that Kambili must be having sex with Father Amadi, as he seems so “bright-eyed.” Kambili says that he will never leave the priesthood, but Amaka says it is possible. That evening Father Amadi comes back. He and Kambili promise to write each other. Kambili cries, and he wipes her tears and then holds her. Later he has dinner with the family, but Kambili doesn’t join the laughter, and instead works at “locking up” parts of herself. She sleeps fitfully that night and Amaka comforts her.

Aunty Ifeoma finishes packing and they decide to go for a last ride in Nsukka. They stop the car at the foot of a hill, and Ifeoma suggests that they climb to the top. They buy some snacks to have a picnic and then start to climb. Suddenly Amaka starts running, and Jaja and Chima run after her. Kambili joins them, and she sprints past the boys, reaching the top at the same time as Amaka. Amaka says that Kambili should be a sprinter. Kambili laughs, and notices how easy it is to laugh now. As they eat, Kambili watches a car below that looks like Father Amadi’s.

That evening they are playing cards when the phone rings. Aunty Ifeoma answers it and screams. Kambili takes the phone, and Mama mechanically tells her that Papa was found dead at his desk at the factory. Jaja then grabs the phone, and Ifeoma leads Kambili to the bed. Kambili studies the bag of rice leaning on the wall. She had never even considered that Papa could die, as he always seemed immortal.