Blooming

In the beginning of the novel when Papa and Jaja are arguing because he did not go to communion and Papa “picked up the missal and flung it across the room, toward Jaja” (7). The top shelf was cracked and the figurines landed in many pieces. This could be a symbolic reference to the status of the family right now. In the second half of the book Before Palm Sunday the family is broken up. Papa is in trouble because of his newspaper Standard, Mama is left home alone with Sisi and the children are with Aunty Ifeoma. They are slowly being separated and the children are blooming in different directions. This could also be a reference to the title of the book Purple Hibiscus because Hibiscus bloom when they are exposed to a lot of sunlight and that is what these children are being exposed to right now. They are no longer in their dark gloomy home where they have no voice and no control of their lives(rather they are like robots) they are now in the light of many new things and therefore they are blooming. Jaja for example seems different to Kambili “”His shoulders seemed broader, and I wonder if it was possible for a teenager’s shoulders to broaden in a week” (154). They are exposed to having emotions and having their voices heard. Like the hibiscus they are being showed tender love and care (tlc) and they are blooming into teenage hood. Also the fact that at home they are constantly suffocating although they live in a mansion they are not allowed to breathe feely. It is ironic that at aunty Ifeoma’s home is so small and one could suffocate in this environment (given the description of the size of the house) but instead Jaja and Kambili are free.