Purple Hibiscus: Style 1 key example

Kambili and Jaja’s father Eugene can transform from a peaceful, loving head of household to an unreasonable and abusive monster at the drop of a hat. Adichie’s style underlines this duality, changing as quickly as Eugene’s mood. Scenes of family meals or quiet contemplation often lull the reader into a sense of stillness, only to be shattered by sudden bursts of violence or recrimination. This variation makes the novel feel rhythmically erratic, its subject dictating its form.

The diction throughout relies on straightforward and accessible language, which is partially because the story is told from Kambili’s still somewhat childish perspective. Her naïve clarity immerses the reader in the many contrasts of her environment. The starkest of these contrasts is between the opulent, suffocating environment of Eugene’s household and the freer, more unkempt and permissive atmosphere of Aunty Ifeoma’s home. This sense of Kambili existing between two worlds is also echoed in Adichie’s word choice. Adichie’s vocabulary underscores the cultural and religious dichotomies of Kambili’s environment. In her strict Catholic home life, dialogue is formulaic and rigid, whereas speech in Ifeoma’s household is far less rigid and constrained.

The figurative language in Purple Hibiscus repeatedly invokes ideas of growth and confinement, using lots of simile and metaphors to show the links between Kambili’s physical and emotional worlds. For example, Eugene’s carefully tended garden full of red hibiscus plants mirrors his need for oppressive control, while Aunty Ifeoma’s experiments with her purple hibiscus suggest her willingness to explore and change. The reader sees contrasting images of freedom and confinement everywhere.