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THEMATIC AND STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE’S
PURPLE HIBISCUS
BY
LUKE NDUDI OKOLO
Abstract
In recent times, both writers and critics have begun to pay attention to the stylistic
study and its effects on the meaning and aesthetics of literature. Literary critics,
especially, now make considerable effort at discovering the impact of an author’s style
on the themes of his/her novel, indicating how it affects the aesthetics of the literary
piece. This study focuses on the theme and stylistics of Purple Hibiscus with intention
to show a relationship between the two as inseparable aspects of a novel. The stylistic
approach of intra-textual and extra-textual linguistic techniques is adopted to portray
the relevance and intellectual importance of the novel. It is discovered that the stylistic
structure of the novel is symbolic to the themes. The names of the characters and
characterization are stylistic features the novelist applies to give the novel
philosophical touch, and thereby signify his world view.
Introduction
Purple Hibiscus is Chimamanda Adichie’s first novel that explores issues of postcolonialism and social vices inherent in Nigeria in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.
Adichie was very careful in choosing her setting. Her wit was excellent that the choice
of setting, subject, theme, language (diction), style of organization (structure) and
point of view all suitably combined to give the novel the perfection it needs. This
novel could be, in a sense, placed side by side with Achebe’s Things Fall Apart; and
when we do, one would not help confirming their excellence.
Thematic Analysis of the Novel
Adichie pursues themes bordering on family life, social interactions, inter-personal
relationships, influences, leadership problems, betrayal and cruelty. One will also hear
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the feminist voice on the character of Aunty Ifeoma the only sister of the protagonist,
Brother Eugene (Papa).
There is, however, a need to clear the bush before cultivating the crops. If that is true,
let us define and explain the concept before dishing it out from the novel.
Theme has been popularly defined as the central idea by many authors. Robert
Anderson et al in Elements of Literature: Sixth Course differentiate between two
related literary terms: theme and subject matter. They define theme as “The central
idea or insight of a work of literature.” They further explain that:
A theme is not the same as the subject of a work, which can
usually be expressed in a word or two: old age, ambition, love.
The theme is the idea the writer wishes to convey about that
subject – the writer’s view of the world or revelation about
human nature …. A theme may also be different from a moral,
which is a lesson or rule about how to live (1250).
If we embrace the above definition, we shall then consider the subject (subject matter)
of Purple Hibiscus as “effects of colonialism;” and the insight or writer’s view of the
world or revelation about human nature which we know as theme shall be discussed
one after the other.
On part one, chapter one and the first page of the novel, our eyes are welcomed on
board with the seemingly paramount theme of effects of high-handedness on the
narrator’s family, which culminates in the tragic death of the chief protagonist,
Brother Eugene (Papa) and father of the narrator – Kambili.
Brother Eugene (Papa) is high-handed that he could be seen as the character type in
comedy known as Pantalone. Cornel Ujowundu in Understanding Comedy: Essay and
Critical Perspectives, describes him (Pantalone) as “the old man of the house.... His
conflict may start when he tries to stop his child from deviating from his rigid rules”
(38). This summarizes the character of Papa’s conflict with his entire family, which
starts with Jaja (his son). He has high standards. The moral and disciplinary, religious
and academic standards he sets for his family and his rigid approach to achieve them
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at all cost is too much and too heavy for them to bear. It makes life monotonous,
absurd and tiresome to them.
One cannot imagine the severity of his temper on Jaja on Palm Sunday for not going
to communion. And because of that, “Papa flung his heavy missal across the room and
broke the figurines on the etagere” (3).
He makes life mechanical – machine like that things are programmed in the family
that one does everything at the programmed time, no matter the circumstances. He has
no room for excuses even if one is dying. He cares less for one’s conscience and
disposition. With this, there is nothing like humour in his family and freedom is a
mere illusion. As the narrator asserts;
I pushed my textbook aside, looked up, and stared at my daily
schedule, pasted on the wall above me. Kambili was written in
bold letters on top of the white sheet of paper, just as Jaja was
written on the schedule above Jaja’s desk in his room… I
wondered when Papa would draw up a schedule for the baby, my
new brother…. Papa liked order. It showed even in the schedules
themselves, the way his meticulously drawn lines, in black ink,
cut across each day, separating study from siesta, siesta from
family time, family time from eating, eating from prayer, prayer
from sleep. He revised them often (23 – 4).
His sister, Aunty Ifeoma, once told Kambili that Papa is a product of colonialism. He
told Kambili himself, the cause of his actions, thus;
Why do you think I work so hard to give you and Jaja the best?
You have to do something with all these privileges …. I would
be nothing today but for the priests and sisters at the mission. I
was a houseboy. Nobody dropped me off at school. I walked
eight miles every day to Nimo until I finished elementary
school… (47).
Perhaps, it is for this reason that he reasons like “his colonial masters” who have illconcept about anything African; hence he restrains his children from speaking Igbo
language, which I am sure, he will regard as “heathen language” or “illicit language”
as his colonial masters regarded African materials.
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Adichie is successful in making the character of Papa a theme by symbolically
juxtaposing Papa’s family with Aunty Ifoma’s. In Papa’s house in Enugu, there is a
bushy garden of hibiscus flower which has turned red as a result of constant cut by
those making decoration at Church and other functions. These flower plants have
never known freedom in its actual nature. Conversely, in Nsukka, Aunty Ifoma has a
little garden of hibiscus but purple in colour which is under threat of no one.
Meanwhile, Kambili and Jaja had taken their mechanically programmed-life as the
natural way of life or the best standard until their bewildering disillusionment at
Nsukka, when they visited Aunty Ifeoma for their vacation. The kind of liberty and
happiness they experienced with Aunty Ifeoma and her children – Amaka and others –
affected Jaja, who dares his father on Palm Sunday, thereby initiating revolution in
their family. It is by the gradual effect of that that their mother, Sister Beatrice, gained
courage of poisoning her husband, Papa.
We should remember that Jaja took the purple hibiscus at Aunty Ifeoma’s house home
and planted it in their compound in Enugu. He waters it, but it eventually dies. It could
be interpreted that Jaja wants to initiate freedom in his house but the hostility of the
atmosphere or environment does not allow it grow and blossom. The hostile
atmosphere here could be colonial training and value inherent in Nigeria (and Africa
in extension) symbolically captured in Papa and cruel politicians like the Sole
Administrator.
Another major theme which is the conflict in the novel is the problem of religious
fanaticism or dogmatism. The first action on the first chapter which first strikes our
faculty and signifies tragedy is as a result of religious fanaticism. Fanaticism is
synonymous to extremism. It is an extreme religious belief which is usually violent; it
is a foolish adherence to teachings and practices of a religion; a situation where nonbelievers of a person’s religion are excommunicated, alienated, ostracized and even
seen as satanic.
This is the picture Adichie paints in the character of Papa who flung his missal at Jaja.
We should not forget that he is an oblate brought up by the missionaries and made to
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see idol worshipping and devilish manipulation in anything contrary to the doctrines
of the church. Papa could not have been mad; surely, he would not have liked it either
that Jaja did not go to communion. His madness was that, “the body of our Lord” (6)
which he strongly believes and professes Jaja speaks of thus: “The wafer gives me bad
breath” (6).
He is blindly dogmatic that he does not imagine it that a pronounced Christian could
be a murderer, thief, liar, or an idol worshipper. Even if he knows, he could visit and
have handshake with them but not a non-catholic or a traditional believer (idol
worshipper). He looks at other religions with contempt that is why he regards
Pentecostal churches as “mushroom churches.”
Papa stopped Papa Nnukwu, his own father from coming to his house because he
refused to turn a Christian. He does not even give him money and materials sufficient
for his upkeep only because he refuses to throw away his chi (personal god) and
become a Catholic. Yet this is a man who had promised his father a new house, car
and personal driver on condition of becoming a Christian. But he throws parties for
his kinsmen and women every Christmas. Among these men and women could be evil
people of every kind. On one occasion, he chases Anikwenwa out of his compound
because, he “had decreed that heathens were not allowed in his compound” (64).
Meanwhile, Papa Nnukwu hates Christianity and Catholicism in particular for the
doctrine of trinity which he sees as the cause of his son’s unruly attitude towards him.
He explains thus:
One day I said to them, where is this god you worship? They said
he was like Chukwu, that he was in the sky. I asked them, who is
the person that was killed, the person that hangs on the wood
outside the mission? They said he was the son, but that the son
and the father are equal. It was then that I knew that the white
man was mad. The father and the son are equal? Tufia! Do you
not see? That is why Eugene can disregard me, because he thinks
we are equal (84).
He could not even greet his father. One wonders how he would know the
creed of people he does not even exchange greetings with.
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A fanatic is like one suffering from myopia. He is a half-blind man. His sight is
limited to a length. This implies that his reasoning does not portray originality; as he
lacks wit. His reasoning is incoherent. This is the problem Papa (Brother Eugene) has.
As a believer who does not take good care of his father while alive, who harmed his
children for living in a house with a heathen of his father, he is expected to show
resentfulness to the message of his father’s (the heathen’s) death. But he foolishly
provides Aunty Ifeoma with sufficient funds to cater for the burial rites of Papa
Nnukwu.
Another aspect of dogmatism is shown on the conversation between Amaka and
Father Amadi in making choice of her confirmation name. Igbo names no matter the
meanings are not acceptable, except the name of a Christian saint, even if it means
evil. Succinctly put, Adichie portrays Catholicism as a dogmatic and conservative
church through Aunty Ifeoma’s family and Papa’s.
However, like her literary father, Chinua Achebe, Adichie recaptures the evil of bad
and cruel government with which colonial masters left their memory with us. She does
not only paint the uncanny images of hawkers on Nigerian major high ways and the
crooked attitude of the hawkers on the valley of potholes we call roads, she also
acquaints us with decay in university management. The destruction of education
system by politicking; the exchange of education with money bags, favoritism, and in
fact, unquenchable desire for materialism is portrayed.
Even the Vice-Chancellor of specimen University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is removed and
replaced by the political office holders. The politicians in the garb of vice-chancellors,
witch-hunt people that oppose their leadership style. This leads to their subsequent
sack which makes Aunty Ifeoma travel abroad where her intellectual worth would be
valued.
Of importance is the assassination of government oppositions and activists like Ade
Coker, Editor of Standard newspaper. He was assassinated for publishing a story on
Nwankiti Ogechi who was silenced by the government despite every ploy and threat
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to do otherwise. Papa was also trailed but he escaped. Government agents often make
attempts to bribe Papa who presses for a better and humane government.
Finally, Adichie is not completely unlike her kindred women writers who are usually
feministic. She could not help contributing her quota in presenting women as natural
and beautiful beings of excellence. She portrays this in the character and speeches of
Aunty Ifeoma who is seen as a naturally beautiful woman, physically and attitudinally.
Yet, she suffers what Charles Nnolim in Issues in African Literature sees as a
universal woe of women like her (the femme fatale). This explains the reason she lost
her husband, Ifediora. But notwithstanding, she is a prototype of Ihuoma in Elechi
Amadi’s The Concubine who is not found wanting on any grounds – a perfect woman.
Adichie’s wit is smartly applied in the conversation between Papa Nnukwu and Aunty
Ifeoma. When her father regrets having allowed Brother Eugene join the missionaries,
she tells him that missionaries are not the cause of Eugene’s attitude to him, “Did I not
go to the missionary school, too?” He (Papa Nnukwu) reminds her that she is a
woman and “do not count” (83). But ironically, Aunty Ifeoma counts as she is the man
who takes care of her father while alive and does everything that a man should do to
her father to let her spirit join his ancestors in peace. She does not stop at that, she is
the comfort or solace of Kambili and Jaja, and inspires them to search for human
freedom. She is always behind Sister Beatrice. Even when Jaja is in prison, she stands
behind Beatrice and Kambili until eventual release of Jaja. This portrays women as
firmly determined in their resolution to extricate humanity from oppressive and cruel
forces.
Besides, Aunty Ifeoma is portrayed as a learned and economically independent
woman who can stand her grounds in the face of threatening economic and political
situations. Thus, a woman is no longer an appendage to the man. It therefore implies
that given proper training as men are given, a woman can out-perform a man. It also
indicates that a woman has better understanding than a man, and could also be more
reliable, especially at times of difficulty. Another implied meaning is that a woman
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symbolizes liberty, peace, confidence, and happiness as obtainable in Aunty Ifeoma’s
house which eludes Papa’s home.
Thus, one would discover that Adichie is a typical Igbo. This is why Lewis Nkosi is
quoted to have said as quoted in Cornel O. Ujowundu in A Guide to the Studies in the
Novel that;
If we know that a writer has been influenced by a particular
school or movement, or individual; or that he has been brought
up in such a place or manner; we then know why he wrote what
he wrote, the style of writing, the development, and of course,
the exploration of the themes by the writer.
Stylistic Analysis of the Novel
The term “stylistic” is derived from the word “style.”
In “Prolegomena to the
Analysis of Prose Style,” Richard Ohmann, in his attempt to describe style states that
it is “ways of saying something, just as style in tennis has to do with ways of hitting a
ball” (190). Making further attempt, he opines that “the most common is to say that it
is part of what we ordinarily call meaning, that is peripheral meaning, or subterranean
meaning, or connotative meaning” (191). Stylistics, then, in view of Ekwutosi
Onwukwe in An Introduction to General and Literary Stylistics states that “Stylistics
has to do with the modern study of different styles” (22). In other words, style is a
technique of writing by which a literary writer distinguishes himself and expresses his
view on the subject of his writing while stylistics is the art of studying the author’s
style and the meaning they express. Rene Welleck and Austine Warren hold the view
that stylistics is a science which
“investigates all devices which aim at some specific expressive
end and thus embraces far more than literature or even rhetoric.
All devices for securing emphasis or explicitness: metaphors,
which permeate all languages, even of the most primitive type;
all rhetorical figures; syntactical patterns” (178).
They further suggest that that:
A first step in stylistic analysis will be to observe such deviations
as the repetitions of sound, the inversion of word order, the
construction of involved hierarchies of clauses, all of which must
serve some aesthetic function such as emphasis or explicitness or
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their opposites – the aesthetically justified blurring of
distinctions or obscurity (180).
In Purple Hibiscus, Adichie disposes high level of wit that enhances originality, and
philosophical or symbolic nature of the novel.
The first obvious style is its structure. The novel is structured into four parts with a
complex plot (system) structure. The first part is entitled “Breaking Gods: Palm
Sunday.” It is in the first part that the author introduces us to the conflict between Jaja
and his father, Papa, for not going to communion on Palm Sunday. This style of
starting the novel in the middle (like a short story) makes it captivating that the
attention of the reader is suspended to the following part – “Speaking With Our
Spirits: Before Palm Sunday.”
The Second part relates to us the stiff family setting of Mr. Eugene, and his
relationship and extremist attitude to religion. It reveals to us the awkward and absurd
life in the narrator’s family, of iron-rule, where the oblate Catholic lords it over
everybody.
The third part – “Pieces of Gods: After Palm Sunday”, portrays a family that is
breaking apart as the purple hibiscus from Nsukka has been planted in their compound
by Jaja’s defiance – daring attitude – to his father is subduing oppressive and fanatical
disciplinary and religious standards.
In the fourth part entitled “A Different Silence: the Present”, the novelist focuses on
Jaja’s experience and the family struggle to gain freedom at last. We can vividly
discover that the novel is infused with a form of clarity. If the novel had been arranged
without a pattern – without part divisions and informing tittles – it could not have
made any meaning to the readers. The plot which is already complex will become
“super-complex” in such a way that no one could have vivid understanding of the plot,
except the novelist herself.
Another useful achievement or effect of that style is that of suspense. By that division,
the novelist switches our memory like electric bulb and suspends it somewhere while
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she switches on another which eventually forms a house well-lit in the name of a fully
developed plot, and a novel for that matter.
Again, the style casts spasm of a short story on each individual part as it seems to be
complete on its own. This, perhaps, is the reason some critics hold the view that the
novel is a development of short stories.
Another major stylistic effect that Adichie deploys in the novel is that of symbolism.
This is applied on the plotting of the novel which makes it philosophical from a view
point; another is the naming of the characters. The hibiscus at Papa’s (Mr. Eugene’s)
compound and that at Aunty Ifeoma’s at Nsukka, are unlike and direct opposites: the
former is red and the latter is purple. The red hibiscus in Papa’s compound signifies
danger, oppression, insecurity, and death which we see in Papa’s family. But
conversely, purple hibiscus signifies freedom, love, freewill and happiness which
prevail in Aunty Ifeoma’s family.
In the naming of characters, Adichie names her major characters by the role they play
or what she wants us to learn about them. For instance, “Papa” represents the distance
between the head of the family and his entire family, the head that cannot be
questioned or disobeyed – one who knows all and has the power to protect, and whose
authority is final; “Eugene” is a foreign (non-African) and Christian name – a name
that was brought and imposed on us by the colonial masters. A name that we know
nothing about its origin, and which does not bear our world view. It portrays him as a
“colonial product” and whose foreign norms and teachings he emulates. Therefore, he
philosophically stands for colonial powers or impostors who are hostile, cruel,
oppressive, deceptive, and pretentious, and must be done away with, if we must know
freedom and happiness. Jaja is a historic figure of king Jaja of Opobo who dared
colonial powers to ensure security and well being of his subjects. Papa Nnukwu then,
as a grandfather his name literally means, is a grateful, thoughtful and unyielding
(courageous) wise man who represents the image of an ideal Igbo man and African by
extension. By the unyielding spirit of Papa Nnukwu, the author urges her readers to
stand firm against every ploy of western powers to destroy our image and identity, and
to strive for her survival just like Aunty strove for the survival of Papa Nnukwu and
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worked for his health. Meanwhile, Aunty Ifeoma herself is portrayed as a woman of
physical and emotional stature who is perfectly beautiful like the famous Ihuoma of
The Concubine. She quarrels with no one except the evil in the society. By her, the
image of Africa is redeemed. She is not only bearing an Igbo name Ifeoma meaning
favour or literally, a good thing; hence she is not only beautiful physically and
attitudinally, she meets favours. Her family maintains Africanness as folktales and
songs still form vital aspects of life, freedom and happiness assure, among other
enduring qualities of Africa.
Of course, stylistics of any work of art cannot be exhaustively discussed without
proper attention to “the head that wears the cap” which is language of the novel
(diction). Adichie cuts her own syntactic pattern which makes her work original. This
is another aspect that marks Papa out of other major characters like Beatrice, Ifeoma
and Kambili. Papa does not like speaking only Igbo language.
On page ninety alone, we see syntactic structures like: “Come and greet the wives of
our umunna”; “Nno nu”; “Nekene, see the boy that will inherit his father’s riches”;
“The girl is a ripe agbogho.” The above structures add to the aesthetic achievement of
the novel. They add lustre to the beauty as they make the passage and dialogues
striking and more memorable to the readers. For instance, “The girl is a ripe agbogho”
does not have exact interpretative meaning with “The girl is ripe” or “The girl is a ripe
lass” which are equivalent structures. They do not have the same meaning, in the
African sense. An “agbogho” is one who is a fully grown or mature woman who is
due for marriage, but “ripe” does not have the same magnitude of meaning with a
“fully grown or fully mature woman.” Ripe could be one who has reached puberty,
one who could conceive, and that does not imply that the person has “fully”
completed the cycle.
Another expressive possibility is her use of proverbs which are correctly applied. On
one occasion where Papa restrained Anikwenwa, an “idol worshipper” from coming
into his compound, Anikwenwa used a proverb: “Ifukwa gi”! You are like a fly
blindly following a corpse into the grave” (70). This means that Papa is thoughtless
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and that his thoughtlessness would eventually land him in a serious trouble and
possibly death, which later come true when he was poisoned because of his rigidness,
oppression or high-handedness on his family.
Finally, the setting and the plot are properly blended in such a way that one enhances
the other. The setting (Enugu, Nsukka and Abba) which are widely located, helps the
author advance his plot and its development. For instance, traveling from one location
to another, afford each family (Eugene and Ifeoma’s family) the opportunity to bare
their minds on certain issues especially traditional and cultural matters. The
description of scenes infuses realism in the novel and brings it closer to us. The time
and background setting also contribute to the vividness and comprehensiveness of the
novel.
One negative effect of Adichie’s linguistic interweaving of English (formal and
transliteration) and Igbo language known as code-mixing and code switching, is that it
could hamper fluent and clearer understanding of the novel at deeper level. By this I
mean its intra-textual and extra-textual meaning to non-Igbo speakers. Apart from this
fact, Adichie’s stylistic weaving is excellent and portrays high intellectual literary
acumen.
Conclusion
Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus is a successful experimentation of style in the
form of symbol, plot organization, naming of characters, linguistic and prose
structure, and proverb usage.
As a matter of fact, the novel treats clear and lofty subject and themes. But the subject
and themes, however, are not new to African novels. The remarkable difference of
excellence in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus is the stylistic variation - her
choice of linguistic and literary features, and the pattern of application of the features
in such a wondrous juxtaposition of characters’ reasoning and thought. In other words,
style is the dress that beautifies literary themes in such a combination that produces
intellectual excellence and sensuous feeling.
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Works Cited
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Purple Hibiscus. Lagos: Parafina, 2006. Print
Anderson, Robert et al. Elements of Literature: Sixth Course. Austin Holt, Rinehart
and Winston Inc., 1989. Print
Nkosi, Lewis qtd in Cornel Ujonwundu. A Guide to Studies in the Novel. Nkpor: Sure
Success Publishers, 2007. Print
Nnolim, E. Charles. Issues in African Literature. Yenegoa: Treasure Books, 2009.
Print
- - - . Morning Yet on Criticism Day: The Criticism of African Literature in the
Twentieth Century. Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press.
Ohmann, M. Richard. “Prolegomena to the Analysis of Prose Style” Theory of the
Novel. Philip Stevick (Ed). London: Collier-Macmillan Ltd., 1967. Print
Ujowundu, Cornel O. A Guide to the Studies in the Novel. Onitsha: Sure Success
Publisher, 2007. Print
Onwukwe, Ekwutosi. An Introduction to General and Literary Stylistics. Owerri:
Alphabet Nigeria Publishers, 2012. Print
- - -. Understanding Comedy: Essays and Critical Perspectives. Onitsha: Eagleman
Books, 2005. Print
Wellek, Rene and Austin Warren. The Theory of Literature (Third Edition). New
York: Harcourt, Brace & World Inc., 1956. Print