Defiance In Adichie's Purple Hibiscus

In the novel Purple Hibiscus, Adichie shows that defiance is what helps people, specifically the children in the story, grow. By showing the contrast between the way that Kambili’s father, Eugene, and Aunty Ifeoma run their homes, Adichie effectively allows the reader to notice how different environments effect those who grow up in them. Through the children, how they react to the world, and how others react to them, Adichie is able to show the importance of freedom with limits.

Aunty Ifeoma is a clear supporter of defiance. There are many times through the novel that she is shown to find speaking up incredibly important. A major time is after Kambili had been staying in Nsukka for a while. After her aunt had taken up for Kambili many times against her cousin Amaka, she finally urges her niece to speak up for herself telling her to “talk back to her” (170). Finally speaking up, it is the start of not only the blossoming relationship with her cousin, but also allows Kambili to begin to work through the anxiety that comes to her when someone speaks to her.

Unlike Kambili’s father Aunty Ifeoma does understand limits are important. Where Eugene is strict to the point of being abusive towards the entire family, she does not allow endless freedom. It is noticed by how well behaved her children are, but when she is

talking with a friend with Obiora, and he speaks out of turn she later tells him that she does “not quarrel with [his]” but rather “how [he has] disagreed.” Compared to her father’s much harsher, and fierce punishments, Aunty Ifeoma’s seem much more controlled, especially once Amaka confirms that “she would explain why [they] had been flogged, what she expected [them] to do to not get flogged again” (245). While Kambili and Jaja’s father would give them reasons, they are much different in delivery than Aunty Ifeoma’s.

When watching Father Amadi coach football, Kambili comes to a realization of that difference.

As he’s encouraging the kids to jump higher and push themselves, and noticing they did to show that he was right, she takes notice that is “what Aunty Ifeoma did with [her] cousins.” She wanted them to be the best that they could be, and with her nurturing, they were able to grow. Kambili then goes on to say it was “different for Jaja and [her].” They did not improve on themselves to make their father proud, or because they really believed in themselves but because they “were terrified that [they] couldn’t” (226), and what would happen to them if they did

not.

Through the entirety of the story Ifeoma’s view that defiance is important remains supported, especially during the many bickering moments between Kambili’s cousins Amaka and Obiora. Engaging in many disputes, all solved quickly with smiles and laughter, Kambili always seems to take note of the freedom of it. She at times even seems envious of it, wishing she could join in on the laughter. Kambili also takes notice of how Aunty Ifeoma often “sat back and watched them” (120) with their ability to criticize and challenge each other. In contrast, Kambili and Jaja rarely talk about anything, much more exciting than what they have eaten for lunch. Kambili claims that the two often would ask “each other questions whose answers [they] already knew” (23), and if the questions with unknown answers were asked it was never verbal. The two would often have to speak through their eyes and understanding of one another to get answers to the questions they knew they could not speak out loud.

Between the two siblings, it was no surprise that Jaja was the on to latch on the lifestyle in Nsukka more quickly than his sister. When taking of Jaja’s nickname, and the story of a defiant king, Aunt Infeoma states that defiance “can be a good thing sometimes…defiance is like marijuana---it is not a bad thing when it is used right” (144). That one quote not only highlights Jaja destiny in a sense, but also the difference between the siblings in the generation before, Aunty Infeoma and Eugene, which is then echoed into smaller situations.

When describing both her home, and Aunty Ifeoma’s they have very different atmospheres associated with them. Her home is associated with a vast emptiness and silence, the family tiptoeing around her father. An act as small as feeding her son was one of defiance done by Kambili’s mother when she “did not hide the tiny smile” on her face and “did not sneak Jaja’s food to his room” (257), after Jaja had refused to go to church. Aunty Ifeoma’s home always has a sense of warmth to it with “laughter always [ringing] out…and no matter where the laughter came from, it bounced around the walls, all the rooms” (140). One home was presented like a prison while the other was like paradise.

Though the story is all in Kambili’s point of view, it’s clear she is not the only one who notices the difference between her and her brother’s demeanor, and that of her cousins. Amaka, her older cousin, also notes the difference more than once, claiming Kambili and her brother to be abnormal. When brought up to Jaja, he does not seem as effected by the words, though it is also clear that he is considered less odd than Kambili is, able to hold a conversation with their cousins and even neighbors. The difference is also brought up my Father Amadi. Several times through the story he mentions how argumentative Amaka is, as well as Kambili’s much more timid nature. Just in the short amount of time that Kambili and Jaja spend in Nsukka, they are able to grow into different people, smile and laugh for the first time (at least in Kambili’s case), and really understand happiness.