Alana Martinez

Honors English 12

Purple HIbiscus RQA

In the novel Purple Hibiscus, one of the main themes perceived is domestic abuse and

how religion is utilized as a tool to justify these violent actions. Adichie conveys this idea by

using techniques like imagery, symbolism and foreshadowing to impart this crucial issue where

religion can be used as a tool for abuse which is still a problem in todays society.

The main characters are constantly being subjects of violent acts committed by their

father, who uses religion as an excuse to justify his physical abuse towards them, for instance,

when Kambili had cramps, she ate some cereal in order to be able to take some medicine for

the pain but when Papa sees her eating ten minutes before mass, he says: Has the devil asked

you all to go on errands for him? and right after he hits all of them with his heavy belt and later

worries and explains he only does it because he loves them (Adichie 102). In this scene, Adichie

uses a series of descriptive words in order to give the reader a very detailed image of what is

going on, this helps push forward the characters feelings as well as their reactions. When

comparing this scene to todays society, there is a resemblance to what the news sometimes

show, although, in this book the reader is able to perceive the abuse in a different way. This is

due to Adichies way to depict the situation, she makes it very personal for the reader, to then be

able of connect with the story and characters, which helps them see a new perspective to what

domestic abuse can be, even if this is not always applicable to every situation. This insight to the

acts of violence that occur day after day, helps the audience open their mind and understand

how this type of problems can affect a family or individual, and how important it is to not let it be

silent even when it seems very hard to tell.

 Alana Martinez
Honors English 12

Another way Adichie uses religion as a tool for abuse is through symbols in the novel. A

major one would be Mamas figurines. Right in the beginning of the novel this figurines are

broken by Papa with his missal, after Jaja does not attend to communion, Papa gets angry at

him because he simply did not wanted to go to communion. Right after this Papa throws his

missal towards him but misses and instead hits the etagere were Mamas figurines were,

breaking them (Adichie 7). This action is what sets the plot for the whole novel. These two: the

missal and the figurines can be compared to Papa and his family and how his love for religion

has taken him to break his family apart. Throughout the novel, the figurines are constantly

mention specially right after Mama got beat up by Papa, she polishes them, representing on

how she wants to fix what happens but after many attempts of being submissive to avoid

infuriating Papa this does not work and takes the whole family to the point where things started

to fall apart. This is represented in the act of the figurines breaking by the missal, here is where

Adichie foreshadows the end of the book and what leads Mama to take desperate measures. In

here, again we see that trying to silence abuse only leads to the individual acting without

thinking if their actions are the best, which can be compared to many of the abuses stories there

are in the media lately, where the person attacked gave up trying to fix the problem and thought

that the best way to fix it would be taking the matter upon them instead of seeking help. It is

important to notice that Adichies perspective is important because she is able to walk you

through the story without actually noticing Mamas actions or frustration that led her to do such

thing as poisoning Papa. This is of great importance because the audience can also notice they

might have done the same in situations alike and ignore it, where maybe if they had spoken or

said something the outcome would have been different.

 Alana Martinez
Honors English 12

In this novel the theme of domestic abuse is entirely intertwined with religion, because it

is use as an excuse to cover for what Papa does not approve and covers as corrective

behaviors along with supposed affection for his family, but this is only the way all abusers try to

make themselves feel better over their actions, trying to fool themselves and others into

believing they do it for love. In society this is the same way and maybe why it has become such

an important problem, the victims are fooled into believing they actually did something wrong

and dont act to correct it so it only worsens the situation and gives power to the abusers to do

as they please, instead of being apprehended by what they do.

Adichie brings up this problem and intends to show the audience the importance of

abuse and how no one should allow it, no matter how decorated with love it could be.