`` Purple Hibiscus `` An Unconventional Coming Of Age Novel

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Purple Hibiscus, is an unconventional coming of age novel, set in postcolonial Nigeria. Kambili, a teenage Igbo girl, lives with her brother Jaja, mother and her wealthy, religious zealot father, who abuses the family in the name of Catholicism. Kambili sees her life as the norm, however her paradigm completely changes when she and Jaja go to spend a week at her Aunty Ifeoma’s house; and the freedom they experience creates a staggering rift within their family. It addresses various themes and motifs, including religion, domestic abuse, silence, and political strife. However, one of the more underrated themes in the book is the imagery of nature; the text is littered with vivid imagery and analogies connecting the characters with this theme. Weather is one aspect of nature that becomes prevalent, and gives the events in the book a deeper and more subtle meaning that goes missed by most. Adichie uses the weather as a symbolic undert one to illustrate the emotional shift of Kambili between her life in Engu and her newfound freedom in Nsukka. Weather is a symbol of nature that is the most blatant reflection of the Achikes’ lives, and yet is the most subtle in illustrating how it evolves. The second chapter of the book opens with a normal day in the life of Kambili: she is doing her homework when Mama comes into her room, with Kambili’s uniforms in hand, fresh off of the clothesline outside. Kambili is confused, because cleaning Kambili