Purple Hibiscus

In Nsukka, all are nice to Kambili, especially Amaka. Kambili heals well in this nurturing environment. Eventually, she does “not even remember that [she] had once hoped never to open [her] eyes again, that fire had once dwelt in [her] body” (233). Amaka playfully teases her for being Father Amadi’s sweetheart.

Aunty Ifeoma appears on a list of disloyal lecturers at the university and defends her right to speak truth. Students continue rioting, and the university is closed. Jaja dwells in the garden, his haven. Father Amadi and Kambili spend time together at the stadium, where she notices his fostering nature is similar to Aunty Ifeoma’s.

Men search Aunty Ifeoma’s house for documents designed to sabotage the peace of the university. She says a realistic option is to join her sister, Aunty Phillipa, in America, where she can get paid for her work. Jaja says he wants to join her if she goes.

Father Amadi takes Kambili to get her hair done at Mama Joe’s. The shop is a tiny shed in the Ogige market. Mama Joe notices Amadi is in love with Kambili; otherwise, he would not have brought her there. Father Amadi mentions that he’s looking for someone to play the role of Our Lady in the church play, and suggests Kambili try out for the part. Because Kambili has never acted, she tells him she can’t do it. Father Amadi says, “You can do anything you want, Kambili” (239). On the way home, they sing in harmony together. 

Kambili, Jaja, Aunty Ifeoma and her children attend church at St. Peter’s Catholic Chaplaincy, University of Nigeria, a place very unlike St. Agnes at home, with women wearing improper headscarves and pants. Aunty Ifeoma punishes Obiora after he disagrees with her friend’s ideas. Amaka tells Kambili the slaps aren’t so bad, and that the discussion afterward is the worst part. Kambili notes the warm feeling between her and Amaka and believes they are both thinking how different it is for her and Jaja.

A disheveled Mama unexpectedly arrives in Nsukka via taxi. She has just been released from the hospital; the doctor has told her to rest, but she has traveled to Nsukka, disclosing that Papa broke a Bible over her stomach and that she has lost another baby. Papa did not know she was pregnant. She cries for a long time.

Kambili, Jaja, and Mama return home the next day. Both parents are shells of their former selves. Jaja remains silent and notices how the transplanted purple hibiscus are about to bloom. The next day is Palm Sunday. Jaja does not go to communion, prompting the scene introduced at the beginning of the novel.