Imagine being in a family where they cannot do what they want, is told how to breathe, how to act, what to do and how to do it. In Purple Hibiscus, a novel written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Achike family is controlled by Papa Eugene through physically, emotionally, and mentally. However, despite being controlled by Papa Eugene they all seem to return to him somehow, until Jaja reaches his limit and defies his father’s requests.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie develops the Achike family to be defying towards Papa Eugene’s rules and obligations through characterization specifically to display the Achike family conflicts with Papa Eugene and how it eventually leads to his death. Adichie uses the red motif to represent the control Papa has on the Achike Family and what the conflicts of being constrained can do to a family. Red is a recurring motif in the novel Purple Hibiscus, where Adichie uses red to symbolize the control papa has on the family.
In this quote the Achike and Aunty Ifeoma’s family are gathered to have a dinner to celebrate Christmas, “I was not sure if Papa nodded or if his head simply moved as he chewed. Another knot formed in my throat, and I could not get a mouthful of rice down. I knocked my glass over as I reached for it, and the blood-colored juice crept over the white lace tablecloth. Mama hastily placed a napkin on the spot, and when she raised the reddened napkin, I remembered her blood on the stairs” (Adichie 99).
Mama is being controlled, which is shown through the color red, by Papa because she knows that she has to clean up the mess that Kambili accidentally made and then later on Papa acts like it does not matter and talks to Amaka. Papa has controlled Mama to the extent that she doesn’t have to be told to do something, that she knows it has to be done right away or problems with Papa might arise. This paragraph will look at how being constrained can do to someone in the Achike family, such as Jaja and Mama.
Jaja starts up doing everything expected of him, and that surely changed throughout the novel because Jaja defies Papa and his ways, “He had come first, as usual, so Papa would be proud, would hug Jaja leave his arm resting around Jaja’s shoulder” (Adichie 39-40). In this quote, Jaja starts defying his father by giving Kambili food before mass, which is breaking the Eucharistic fast, shown here, “Jaja poured the cereal from the carton on the table, scooped in powdered milk and sugar with a teaspoon, and added water…‘I told her to eat corn flakes before she took Panadol. I made it for her’” (Adichie 101-102).
In these two quotes it shows how Jaja is changing throughout the novel from being obedient and trustworthy to being disobedient and independent. Mama is tired of being abused so they only way to stop Papa is to kill him, which Mama also thinks about, “‘They did an autopsy,’ she said. ‘They found the poison in your father’s body. ’… I started putting the poison in his tea before I came to Nsukka. Sisi got it for me; her uncle is a powerful witch doctor” (Adichie 290). This shows when someone is pushed to their limits that they will do anything to get away from the oppressor, Papa Eugene.
The constraints of Jaja and Mama has a negative effect on them, changing the way they act around their family. How being controlled by someone can do to a family, like at the end of the novel in Purple Hibiscus Mama, Jaja, and Kambili stop talking to each other and lose the connection that they had. In this quote Kambili is explaining the situation of visiting Jaja in prison, “Mama and I hardly came to prison together. Usually Celestine takes me a day or two before he takes her, every week. She prefers it I think” (Adichie 296).
Also, this quote she is portraying the conflict that she has with Mama, but also the conflict Mama has with herself, “The brash voice soon fills the car. I turn to see if Mama minds, but she is looking straight ahead at the front seat; I doubt she hears anything. Most time, her answers are nods and shakes of the head, and I wonder if she really heard” (Adichie 297-298). Being controlled by someone can do on a family is that they get to the point that they don’t talk to each other anymore and how Jaja and Kambili lose their language of the eyes and Mama and her don’t talk at all anymore.
This is what can happen to a family when something happens to the controller because they lost the little bit voice that they had and don’t know what to do or how to act without the controller being around. Adichie uses the red motif to represent the control Papa has on the Achike Family and what the conflicts of being constrained can do to a family. Being controlled for a certain amount of time people, like Mama, know their role in the family and know what they have to do so that the oppressor, Papa, does not get angry.
Being constrained in the Achike family can lead to defiance and killing the oppressor because they get tired of the oppressor controlling. Also, how being controlled in the Achike family is that they lose the connection they had with each other and also they are lost and don’t know what to do without Papa being around. Well, what the Achike family is going is not an imagination, they actually endure this and Papa is the oppressor and the controller who tells them what to do, how to breathe, how to act and how to do it.
