Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (b. 1977)
Purple Hibiscus (2013)
Things to Consider:
- Historical Context
- Connections to/Distinctions from Things Fall
Apart
- first person vs. third person
- Symbolism of Glass Figurines
- Symbolism of Purple Hibiscus
- Meanings of Section Titles
- Gender Roles
- Relationships: Parents and Children, Husbands and Wives,
Siblings, Cousins, etc.
- Portrayal of Religion (Christian vs. Traditional (Pagan)
- Meanings of Names
Discussion Questions:
General Question:
- Which characters in Purple Hibiscus correlate
to the following characters in Things Fall Apart?
(These will be discussed as we go along.)
- Okonkwo
- Nwoye
- Ekwefi
- Ezinma
- Unoka
- Mr. Brown
- Rev. James Smith
- Mr. Brown
Homework Questions: (See Q's for parts 2 
, 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 )
(Page #s in parentheses refer to the pdf version of the
novel)
3 (1):
- Explain the
significance of the opening line: “Things started to fall
apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to
communion, and Papa flung his heavy missal across the room
and broke the figurines on the étagčre” (3).
4 (1):
- Describe Papa’s position in society at the beginning of the
book. How has he achieved that position?
4-5 (2):
- Why does Father Benedict praise Papa?
10 (6):
- Explain: “I meant to say I’m sorry Papa broke your
figurines, but the words that came out were, ‘I’m sorry your
figurines broke, Mama’” (10). What is the difference between
the two statements?
- Why does Mama polish her figurines?
28 (18):
- Why is Papa proud of Kambili and Jaja in church?
35-36 (23):
- Why does Papa say they need to pray for Mama’s forgiveness?
37-38 (24):
- Why has the editor, Ade Coker, been arrested?
38-39 25):
- Why is Kambili upset about coming in second in her class?
50 (33):
- Why is Chinwe more popular than Kambili?
Other Discussion Questions:
4 (1):
- Describe the setting for the novel.
- Describe Father Benedict.
- What is the significance of the different languages allowed
for the church service?
5 (2):
- Why has Papa taught the narrator that “modesty was very
important” (5)?
7 (3):
- Explain the description of Mama as she comes in to clean up
the mess.
8 (4):
9 (5):
- Describe the flowers in the garden.
12 (7):
- Why does the narrator praise the fresh cashew juice?
14 (8):
- Why does the narrator believe that the compound walls will
crumble?
22 (14):
- Why do Jaja and Kambili no longer have lunch together?
23 (14):
- What is the significance of Jaja’s referring to the
prospective baby as “him” (23)?
25 (16):
- Explain Kambili’s thoughts about the comments she and Jaja
make about the new government.
29 (18):
- Explain: “People
like him bring trouble to the church. We must remember to
pray for him” (29).
- Why does Mama
want to wait in the car while the rest of the family visits
Father Benedict after Mass?
- Why does Papa ask Mama if
she is sure she wants to do so? Explain her response.
32 (20):
- Why does Papa ask God for
forgiveness after lunch?
33 (20-21):
- Why does Kambili count
while her father beats her mother?
- Why
do Kambili and Jaja clean up the blood?
47 (31):
- Explain: “I would be nothing today but for the priests and
sisters at the mission” (47).
Part Two:
Homework Questions:
61 (41):
- Why can’t Kambili and Jaja eat anything when they visit
their grandfather?
68 (46):
- Explain: “He did things the right way, the way white people
did, not what our people do now!” (68).
75 (52):
- Explain: “A husband crowns a woman’s life…. It is what they
want” (75).
81 (56):
- Explain: “Pagan, traditionalist, what did it matter? He was
not Catholic” (81).
- How Christian is Papa’s treatment of the pagans in his
community?
83 (58):
- Explain the different hopes Ifeoma and her father have
about what Chukwu might provide.
84 (58):
- Why does Papa-Nnukwu believe white people are crazy?
94 (66):
- Explain: “Everyone has to stop doing God’s job. God is big
enough to do his own job” (94).
104 (72-73):
- Why doesn’t Papa go to confession in Abba?
- How, according to Papa, are “our people” different from
Whites?
Other Discussion Questions:
53 (35):
- What can’t Sister Veronica understand about Igbo people?
How does Kambili view her lack of understanding?
56 (38):
- What is Papa called in his hometown of Abba? Why?
67-68 (46):
- Why is Papa so proud of his father-in-law?
70 (48):
- Explain: “You are like a fly blindly following a corpse
into the grave!” (70).
87 (60-61):
- Why has Jaja not participated in the ima mmuo, the
initiation into the spirit world?
88 (61):
- Explain the significance of Kambili’s dream.
107 (75):
- Why does Papa agree to allow his children to go to visit
Aunty Ifeoma?
Part Three:
Homework Questions:
117-18 (82):
- What (mistaken) assumptions does Amaka make about Kambili?
118 (82):
- Explain the music Amaka listens to.
127 (89):
- What bewilders Kambili about the prayer Ifeoma and her
children make?
135 (94-95):
- Describe Kambili’s response to Father Amadi.
144 (101):
- Why does Ifeoma believe Jaja’s nickname is appropriate?
145 (102):
- Explain what has happened to Jaja’s pinkie.
149 (105):
- Why is Kambili worried about sleeping in the same room with
her grandfather?
151 (106):
- Why is Kambili surprised by Ifeoma’s prayers?
154 (109):
- Explain: “Had Jaja forgotten that we never told, that there
was so much that we never told?” (154).
157-61 (111-13):
- How does the story of the tortoise's shell compare with
the corresponding story in Things Fall Apart?
Other Discussion Questions:
141 (100):
- Why does Amaka ask her mother is there is something wrong
with Kambili?
Part Four:
Homework Questions:
166 (116):
- How does Ifeoma’s comparison of traditional and Catholic
beliefs compare with the conversation between Mr. Brown and
Akunna in Things Fall Apart (179-81)?
169 (118):
- What does Kambili consider unusual about Papa-Nnukwu’s
prayer?
172-73 (121):
- Explain Obiora’s analogy involving okpa.
179-80 (126):
- Explain the significance of Kambili’s imagining God
mispronouncing her name.
186 (131):
- Why does Kambili hide her tears from Ifeoma and not want
to see hers?
188 (132-33):
- Why has Papa arrived to bring his children home?
- Explain Papa’s offer for Papa-Nnukwu’s funeral.
194 (137):
- Why does Papa pour boiling water over Kambili’s feet?
196 (138):
- Explain Papa’s earlier experience with boiling water.
199 (140):
- Explain the offer the Head of State has made to Ade Coker.
Other Discussion Question:
185 (130):
- Explain:"She had not learned the art of silent crying; she
had not needed to" (185).
200 (141):
- Why do government
officials attempt to bribe Papa?
Part Five:
Homework Questions:
208 (145-46):
- Why do soldiers close down Papa’s factory?
210 (147):
- Explain Papa’s response to seeing Jaja and Kambili with
the painting of Papa-Nnukwu.
220 (153):
- Explain: “It is exciting to have to deal with God as a
rival” (220).
221 (154):
- Explain: “I wished I could tell him … how my favorite
color was now the same fired-clay shade of his skin” (221).
222-24 (155-56):
- How, according to Obiora, is the university “a microcosm of
the country” (224)?
226 (158):
- Why does Father Amadi raise the high jump bar when the boys
aren’t looking?
- What connection does Kambili make between Amadi’s actions
and Aunty Ifeoma’s treatment of her children?
- Explain: “We did not scale the rod because we believed we
could, we scaled it because we were terrified that we
couldn’t” (226).
241 (169):
- Why doesn’t Amaka want an English communion name? (cf.
271-72)
244-45 (171):
- Explain Chiaku’s observations about “oyinbo land”
(244).
Other Discussion Questions:
231 (162):
- Why do soldiers trash Ifeoma’s apartment?
233 (163-64):
- Why does Ifeoma’s student give her a chicken?
236 (165):
- Why does Father Amadi take Kambili to Mama Joe?
248 (174):
251 (176):
- Why does Amaka believe that Papa is not a bad man?
- Why has Papa ended up paying for Papa-Nnukwu’s
funeral?
Part Six:
Homework Questions:
269 (189):
- Why does Amaka list the Igbo names that glorify God?
274-75 (191):
- Explain what Kambili experiences at Aokpe.
282 (197):
- Explain: “I was busy locking little parts of me up, because
I would not need them if Father Amadi was not here” (282).
289 (202):
- Explain: “Why did he have to murder his own son so we would
be saved? Why didn’t he just go ahead and save us?” (289).
290 (202):
- Why is Kambili
so upset that Mama has put the poison in Papa’s tea?
291 (203):
- Why has Jaja told
the police that he has killed his father?
296 (205):
- How is Mama different
since Jaja has been in prison?
299 (207):
- Why does Kambili
laugh as she drives home from Nsukka?
303 (210):
- How does Kambili view
God’s relation to Amadi in relation to her own? (cf. 220).
305 (212):
- Why does Kambili want
to dream about her father?
Other Discussion
Questions:
261 (182):
- Why does Papa agree to let Jaja and Kambili go to Nsukka
for Easter?
273 (190):
- Why does Amaka not join the other children getting
confirmed on Easter Sunday?
276 (192):
- How does Father Amadi respond to Kambili’s declaration
of love?
295 (205):
- Why has Mama
replaced their driver Kevin?
296 (205):
- Why has no one
believed Mama when she has attempted to confess to
killing Papa?
- Why has Mama not
participated in the conventional mourning practices?
296-97 (206):
- Why is Jaja going
to be released?
298 (207):
- Why has Kambili
visited Ifeoma’s old flat in Nsukka?
299 (207-8):
- Describe
Jaja’s situation in prison.
300-1 (208-9):
- Describe the
letters Amaka and Ifeoma write.
- Explain the analogy
between a newly independent country and a baby learning to
walk.
303
(210):
- Why does Kambili
carry around her letters from Father Amadi?
305 (211-12):
- Describe Jaja’s
response to the news that he will be freed.
- Explain: “He will
never think that he did enough, and he will never
understand that I do not think he should have done more”
(305).
307 (213):
- Explain the
significance of the final line: “The new rains
will come down soon” (307).
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