Cruelty In C. Adichie's Purple Hibiscus

In the novel Purple Hibiscus written by C. Adichie the concept of cruelty is incorporated in the text to express one's vigor when it come to their beliefs and shows the extent of one's insecurities. This idea is expressed by the character Eugene and in his personality. Him and the concept of cruelty is then show in many aspects in Kambili's life and is the major obstacle for Kambili. It also reveals Eugene's insecurities and his strong belief in his religion. Eugene seems very self centered and given his description of the book he seems to care much about his appearance and his place in society. While in Aunt Ifeoma's home Kambili thinks about an event in Jaja’s past after the Aunt asks Jaja what had happened to his small finger as it was devastated,”When he was ten, he had missed two questions on his catechism test...papa took him upstairs...came out supporting his left hand with his right”(Adichie 145). Here it is apparent just how much he cares for his self image. Jaja did not manage to get to the top spot in his class, thus would directly affect Eugene as his kids would not be just as revered as himself leading to his self image being lowered. He hates this, this feeling of second best. He feels

Directly after Kambili acquiring top in her class she is somehow lulled into a version to stockholm syndrome and she describes to herself the image of her proud father after seeing her grades,”That night, I fell asleep hugging close the image of papa’s face lit up...how proud of me he was”(Adichie 53). She becomes isolated and Eugene's actions causes Kambili to only have the purpose of making her father feel happy, Throughout the novel then, she must find a way to break out of Eugene's influence and live her life from herself. Eugenes cruelty leaves Kambili an underlying goal to break free from his grasp, thus giving the story a