In these explorations, symbolism is key, but the writers also use other elements of prose such as characterisation, setting,

narrative genre and the use of the interior monologue.

In Purple Hibiscus, the main symbol from the title is the hibiscus flower. This recurring symbol becomes a central motif of the novel and this helps us to understand the damage done to interpersonal relationships. In one scene, government agents yanked at the hibiscus as they left and this act seems to first symbolise how things beautiful and fragile can be easily destroyed by people who abuse their power. The state agent's act of violence is also suggestive of the way in which the powerful can control others. This act mirrors the father's acts of violence in the home that damages the interpersonal relationships between parent and children, husband and wife. When the children visit their aunt, they see another way in which a parent interacts with children that does not include so much violence and control. Through this symbol the writer is able to help the reader understand how violence can destroy the beauty of family relationships.
Another important symbol is the breaking of the figurines in Adichie's novel that exposes the fragility of family relations. The children's sense of security and the family's sense of harmony are fragile and easily shaken. The breaking of these fragile beautiful pieces of art symbolises how the harmony of family life is shattered by the violence and damaging control of the father. The patriarchal order that informs the character of the father is also linked to a similar damaging control of the State in Adichie's novel, Kambili eventually learns to determine her own values against those imposed by her controlling father. As the critic, Ogaga Okuyade says, her reassembling the 'torn portrait' symbolises her 'assertion of her own identity'.

In Purple Hibiscus, for example, Kambili has moments when she muses to herself and her thoughts afforded to us through the interior monologue reveal her deep interpersonal conflicts. When she reflects on the response she expected from her father about her getting the second highest test score in her class, we see the grave tensions developed when she fails to satisfy her father's exacting requirements. She exposes how desperate she is to please him and how he makes her feel unworthy for coming second.

Nssukka where the aunt lives is imaged as a less opulent environment, but a happier space. While the luxury of the family home is associated with violence, terror and tension. Even the church space for the children is a space of oppression. These spaces also mark the kinds of nurturing or damaging relationships that the authors explore in the novels.