Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an exceptional writer. She writes well-rounded, intricate characters who are extremely realistic. The characters, Eugene, Kambili, and Chukwuka (Jaja) Achike, from Adichie’s novel, Purple Hibiscus, perfectly encapsulate her ability to create complicated characters, as there are ever-evolving emotions and clear character developments displayed throughout the book.
Eugene Achike (who is referred to as 'Papa') is a devout Catholic, a newspaper publisher (the Standard), and an affluent factory owner. Eugene is portrayed as a rich and generous man to the public because of his financial donations to friends, charities, employees, and his church, St. Agnes. In Chapter 5, he is even referred to as 'the one who does for the community,' showing the praise and gratitude he obtains from his work and social life. Papa’s newspaper (The Standard) is the only paper that will speak liberally about the Nigerian military government. All this translates into Papa’s persona towards the public as a liberal activist, but in his family life, it is quite the opposite. Papa controls his home like a dictatorship. When Mama, Kambili, or Jaja upset him, he is quick to become rageous and beat them. In Speaking with Our Spirits: Before Palm Sunday Part 1, Papa beats Mama because she asked to stay in the car instead of greeting Father Benedict as she was feeling ill. It is evident that Papa beats Mama after that, as Kambili and Jaja hear loud thuds from their parent’s room and see Papa dragging Mama down the stairs, leaving a trail of blood. When she returned from the hospital, Mama cleaned her ceramic figurines (which is what she did after being beaten by Papa). Papa had beaten Mama to the point where she had a miscarriage. In regards to Kambili and Jaja, Papa is not a nurturing father and makes them follow a rigid timetable every day. He beats them as well. He beat Kambili, Mama, and Jaja for eating before mass. He also kicked Kambili unconscious for having a painting of Papa-Nnukwu. At this point, Papa can be seen as the villain of the story, but Papa does not take pleasure in his abuse of his family. From an analysis of Papa’s character, he believes that he is beating sin and evil out of them. He sees it as an act of care, so they stay 'holy' in the eyes of God. Papa’s father, Papa-Nnukwu, was a traditionalist and refused to convert to Catholicism despite all of Papa’s requests. Papa was raised with traditional Nigerian spirituality, but after leaving to be a missionary for school, he became a Christian and resented anyone and anything that was not Christian. He would not even allow his father to visit them, as he didn’t want any 'heathen' in his home. This does portray Papa in a bad light by being a non-tolerant and closed-minded man, but not much is revealed about Papa’s past in the book, especially his childhood. One guess about why he hates anything non-Christian is that he was traumatized by his father and links traditionalism with him and his past. He could not think of any other way to show his emotions but by being stern. These arguments can be used to justify his personality by being caring yet violent and liberal yet authoritarian. Adichie’s craft of Eugene Achike is how many men around the world act. This is regarding domestic abuse, totalitarianism, and staunch Catholicism, yet evidence of past distress and trauma which contributes to their current identity.
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Beatrice Achike is Eugene’s wife (and also known as 'Mama'). She is a woman with internalized patriarchal values who models herself as a stereotypical housewife. Mama is a submissive woman. So submissive, it is seen by her family, including her own children. Kambili even narrates that 'there was so much that she did not mind.' As much as submission and compliance are a part of her identity, those factors grow tremendously around Papa, so much so that it seems that she fears Papa instead of loving and respecting him. Mama believes that Papa is a saint for staying with her and tells Ifeoma that she is grateful for not divorcing her or getting another wife. Mama never spoke if she was not spoken to or complimented by Papa (for example, the products from his factories). Although Mama perceived Papa as a good man, Mama would get beaten by Papa—she even had multiple miscarriages due to violence on her delicate, pregnant body. We get to learn in the story that whenever Mama cleaned her figurines, it was after being physically abused by Papa. She cleaned her figurines often. After her last miscarriage in Speaking with Our Spirits: Before Palm Sunday—Part 11, is the first time in the book that Mama is seen crying, which is also the first time Mama expresses her emotions throughout the novel. Mama’s breakdown is also one of the prevalent signs of her resentment towards Eugene, which will then lead to her slowly poisoning him in the next chapter. Beatrice Achike was a caring and sensitive mother to her children, but because of Eugene’s totalitarian nature, she was imprisoned and unable to raise her children the way she wanted and to live her own life without her husband’s interference. Because of the way Mama kills her husband, the reader can see that it was premeditated and not a surprise act, which shows how long Mama has had a growing hatred inside of her. Mama is a quiet and submissive woman but does have opinions and feelings that she does not express, which leads to the murder.
Kambili is a teenage girl who keeps the values she grew up with while finding new interests. The book is told according to how she perceives the world, which includes a strict Catholic order but also the growing pains of being an adolescent. Kambili is devoted to pleasing her father. This is shown by how strictly she follows the rigid schedule made by him for her and Jaja, and in the fourth chapter, Kambili states that she 'feels stained by failure' when coming second in her class (regardless of her teacher’s glowing review) as she knows that Papa will disapprove. Despite Eugene’s violence and staunchness, Kambili still idolizes her father. She adores how devoted he is to the church and generous to the public. After visiting Nsukka, another lingering side of her appears. She begins to have romantic feelings for Father Amadi and enjoys freedom in Ifeoma’s household.
Adichie’s skill at writing complicated characters is reflected in all three characters referred to in this essay. Eugene is a controlling and violent character with clear signs of past trauma, but he dearly loves the church and his family. Beatrice is a quiet and submissive woman, wife, and mother, but she does up against her husband and shows her own emotions through that. Kambili is a girl who worships her father but does have many thoughts and feelings that defy all that she has been taught by her father. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has written these three characters with a prevalent character but who also have conflicting sides to that character, much like real people do.
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