Purple Hibiscus | Part 2, Section 4 : Speaking with Our Spirits

(Before Palm Sunday) | Summary

Summary
In the weeks after her mother loses the baby, Kambili finds it difficult to study even though the
important first-term exams are approaching. When she looks at her textbooks, all she sees is
blood. One night as she is fruitlessly studying, Yewande Coker comes to the house, crying
loudly. Ade, her husband, wrote an article implicating the new head of state in drug trafficking
and murder and was arrested by soldiers as he was leaving the editorial offices of the Standard.
Kambili takes her exams and finishes second in her class. Second is not good enough for Papa,
and Kambili knows he will be disappointed. Papa always complained that his "Godless"
father Papa-Nnukwu never spent money on his education, so he sends his children to good
schools and expects them to be first in their class. As expected, Papa is not pleased when she
informs him that evening of her rank. Dinner is tense, and Kambili has trouble eating. After
dinner Papa speaks privately with Kambili and begins to scold her, but he is interrupted by a
phone call. He waves at her to leave the room. Kambili expects him to summon her back in, but
he never does. Later, Kambili learns that Papa got Ade out of jail, where he had been tortured.
Papa decides to take his newspaper underground.
On the Saturday before the beginning of the next term, Mama, Jaja, and Kambili visit the
market to buy new sandals, a ritual the three enjoy before the start of every term—even
though they don't need new sandals. They see women being beaten by soldiers, who are also
destroying the market stands. Kevin, their driver, tells them the soldiers were ordered to
destroy the market stalls because they are considered illegal. That Monday Papa drives Kambili
to school. Along the way, he throws some money at a beggar, who joyfully receives the cash.
The beggar reminds her of one of the women at the market, who cried on the ground in
despair.
At school, Sister Margaret, a teacher at Kambili's school, greets them. Papa speaks to her in an
English accent, just as he does with Father Benedict. Kambili notes that Papa often uses an
English accent when he is talking to white religious people. Papa asks Kambili which of the girls
is Chinwe Jideze, who placed first on the exams. He points out that both Chinwe and Kambili
have only one head, so there's no reason Kambili should not come in first. She promises him
she will not let it happen again.

Another girl, Ezinne, strikes up a conversation with Kambili. As the two discuss their vacations
and school, Chinwe comes up to them and asks Ezinne to vote for her for class prefect. Ezinne
agrees. Kambili observes Chinwe ask most of the other girls the same thing but skips Kambili.
Ezinne says Chinwe is waiting for Kambili to speak to her first, because she thinks Kambili is a
snob. In reality, Kambili's hesitance to speak up and her introverted ways are not evidence of
arrogance. Ezinne tells her not to run off so quickly after school but to stay and talk with the
other girls. Kambili, thinking about the punishment she will receive if she is even a few minutes
late, tells Ezinne she simply "likes running."
Analysis
This section again juxtaposes Papa's public persona with his private one. He is quick to respond
to the suffering of Ade Coker and his wife, gives money to the poor, and defies the new head of
state through his newspaper. Yet, he has caused his own wife to miscarry their child, and the
trauma of that event is causing Kambili to hallucinate blood images whenever she looks at her
textbooks. Then Papa is disappointed that Kambili did not place first on her exams, even though
his own actions caused her failure to achieve top ranking. There's a hint here of a pattern that
becomes more evident later in the novel: Papa is the cause of many things that result in his own
harm or disappointment. At Kambili's school, Papa shows his public side, as he chats with the
staff and speaks graciously, in a British accent, before berating Kambili privately in Igbo about
second place.
The incident at the market, when Kambili sees the soldiers ruining the stalls of the poorer
women, and the way Papa throws cash at a beggar become linked in Kambili's mind. She sees
both the despair of the woman wailing on the ground and the joy of the beggar as the same
helplessness. Her awareness of their suffering shows a growing awareness of class and her own
privilege. But her thoughts also reveal she understands that both joy and despair can have the
same root: helplessness. This duality is one way of understanding Kambili's own ability to feel
both pride and fear about Papa, which centers on his role as the authority in her life and on her
relative helplessness.

Kambili's situation at school reveals another instance of the theme of public versus private. Her
silence and lack of engagement with the other girls are a result of her fear of Papa. She is
consumed with doing well on the tests and not being late. But her actions are interpreted in a
way that creates a public persona at odds with her real, private self. The other students think
she is stuck up because she doesn't talk to them or stay after school to hang out. Of course,
Kambili's inability to speak of her fear of Papa, or even admit it, gets in the way of resolving the
problem. She can't tell Ezinne why she really needs to run away after school. Papa's tyranny
creates a barrier between Kambili and the girls who might have been her friends and
confidants, trapping Kambili inside her own silence.

Summary
Analysis

It remains difficult for Kambili to read, even though her exams are approaching, as she keeps
seeing Mama’s blood in the letters. One day she is studying in her room when Yewande Coker, the wife
of Ade Coker (Papa’s editor at the Standard) comes to the door sobbing. She says that soldiers have
taken Ade away. Papa comforts her, telling her to repeat a Bible verse. Kambili knows that Ade was
arrested because the last Standard had printed a story claiming that the Head of State was drug
trafficking, and questioning the earlier execution of the three men.
Even as Papa enforces a frightened silence within his own family, in his life outside the home he fights for
freedom and justice. None of the other newspapers are willing to speak out against Nigeria’s new regime,
as the Head of State uses violence to suppress and discourage free speech. And yet Papa and Ade
Coker push on in telling the dangerous truth.
The next week Kambili takes her exams, and then is horrified to see that she has come second in her
class, even though the teacher has written her a glowing review. Kambili knows that Papa will not be
pleased, and will compare her to his own success, which he achieved despite his “Godless father” Papa-
Nnukwu. Kambili feels “stained by failure.”
The teacher doesn’t realize the impossible standards that Papa has for his children. Papa-Nnukwu,
Papa’s father who refused to convert to Christianity, appears for the first time—and for Papa, his father’s
“Godlessness” was an obstacle Papa had to overcome to succeed.
Kambili gets home and goes to her room. She hears Papa come home and go into Jaja’s room. Jaja had
come first in his class, so Kambili imagines Papa hugging him and praising him. Then Papa comes to
Kambili’s room and she gives him the report card. He is silent, and then asks about the girl who came
first. Kambili says it is Chinwe Jideze, the girl who came second last term when Kambili was first. Papa
tells Kambili to come down for dinner.
Papa’s love and affection is inextricably connected to his expectations for his children. Kambili fears
Papa’s violence when she does something less than perfect, but she fears losing his love and approval
even more. She often seems to see Papa’s hug as a greater reward than Papa’s slap is a punishment.
Kambili is terrified to look at Papa as they eat, and she can hardly swallow her food. After
dinner Papa tells her to follow him upstairs. She goes into Papa’s bedroom, where everything is cream-
colored and soft looking. Papa starts to chide Kambili for her grades, but then the phone rings. Papa
answers it and then motions for Kambili to leave. Papa seems to forget about Kambili’s punishment for a
few days after that. He gets Ade Coker out of prison, but his family only finds out by reading it in
the Standard. There Ade praises Papa as a brave “man of integrity.” Kambili feels a rush of pride as she
reads this. Papa says that the paper will have to publish underground now.
Even Papa’s decorations and furniture fit the kind of order and Western-ness he values in life. For once,
here, his political life intrudes enough to disrupt his control of his family. Papa says nothing about his
outside life to his family, and they must read about it in the paper just as if he was a stranger to them.
Kambili doesn’t find anything odd about this, and instead feels a surge of pride and love whenever Papa
is praised by an outside source.

There is a two-week break from school, and on the last weekend Mama takes Jaja and Kambili to get
new sandals and bags. Kambili notices the crowds of the poor at the market, and then sees a group of
soldiers around a woman who is tearing her hair and crying in the dirt. Mama tries to shield the children
from seeing. Kambili sees another woman spit on a soldier, and then sees the soldier whip her. Another
soldier kicks down stalls selling fruits. As they drive home Kambili cannot stop thinking about the woman in
the dirt.
We were first introduced to the isolated and wealthy world of the Achikes, but now Adichie starts to
contrast their lives with those of most Nigerians. The corruption of the military regime means violence in
everyday life for most people, but Kambili is still sheltered by her parents, and Papa’s wealth means he
can afford to keep his family isolated.

On Monday Papa drives Kambili to school, instead of Kevin taking her as he usually does. They pass a
beggar and Papa throws some money to him. Kambili’s school, the Daughters of the Immaculate Heart
Secondary School, is surrounded by high walls with broken glass on top. Papa had decided on this school
because he liked the walls, which enforced discipline.
Papa practices charity at all times, and uses his wealth to help others. But this virtue is then immediately
contrasted with his idea of what makes a good school—a high, unscalable wall to keep the students
disciplined, and of course the school must be private and Catholic.
They go into the school grounds and Papa asks Kambili to take him to her class. One of the white nuns
sees him and starts talking excitedly. Papa affects a British accent when he speaks to her, just as he
does with Father Benedict. Papa tells the sister that he is just there to see Kambili’s class. Papa and
Kambili go on and come to the group of girls standing outside the door.
Adichie shows just how much of a “colonial product” Papa is—he sees white people as superior and more
civilized, and so he flatters them and tries to prove his own civility by speaking English and affecting a
British accent. Kambili, at this point, sees nothing wrong with this.
Papa asks Kambili to point out Chinwe Jideze for him. Papa says that Chinwe does not have any more
heads than Kambili, so Kambili should not let her come in first. Papa then gives the lecture Kambili had
expected, about his own hard childhood, how hard he worked, how he escaped his idol-worshiping father
with the help of the Catholic missionaries. Then Papa leaves and tells Kambili that Kevin will pick her up.
Papa has most harshly abandoned Nigerian ways for British ones by cutting all ties with his father, just
because Papa-Nnukwu refused to be converted by the missionaries. Papa is indeed an incredibly
successful man, but he holds his children to even higher standards of perfection.
The class begins with a hymn, a prayer, and then the Nigerian national anthem. Then a student always
recites the pledge. Today the sister chooses Kambili to say it. Kambili knows the words, but she cannot
make herself speak. She starts sweating as everyone stares at her. Finally she stutters and starts the
pledge.
Kambili’s silence affects her life even when Papa is not around. She stutters, speaks softly, and finds it
nearly impossible to find the right words for a situation without reciting some platitude that might please
Papa.
The students go into their classrooms and a girl named Ezinne asks Kambili about her holiday. She
brings up the fact that Kambili came in second last term, but says that her parents must still be proud of
her. Meanwhile Chinwe goes around the room asking for votes so that she will remain the class prefect.
She noticeably skips Kambili. Chinwe comes from a rich family just like Kambili, but Chinwe is very
popular and the other girls copy her style. Kambili, in contrast, spends all her free time studying.
Chinwe acts as a foil to Kambili, as she too has a wealthy and successful father, but she is sociable,
confident, and unafraid of speaking her mind. Kambili, on the other hand, has trouble speaking and is
afraid to spend her free time doing anything but studying, so as to always come in first and please Papa.
Ezinne tells Kambili that Chinwe started the rumor that Kambili is a “backyard snob” and that she thinks
she is “too big” because she doesn’t ever talk to the other girls, or walk with them after school instead of
running off. Kambili does this, though, because she knows that she must run to Kevin’s car and get home
on time or else Papa will be angry. One time she was late and he slapped her face with both hands.
Kambili doesn’t tell Ezinne this, though; she just says that she likes running.
Other than Ezinne, the only girl who is kind to Kambili, the other students interpret her silence and anti-
social demeanor as snobbery. Amaka will later make this same mistake. We see that Kambili never
mentions or even hints at Papa’s abuse, but always makes up her own excuses to explain her behavior.