Papa reminds me of Jekyll and Hyde. He shows the world that he is civilized and very passionate about speaking up about things that are wrong, like the government, yet when he goes home he becomes this abusive monster. The fact that he keeps his family on a short leash is showing that he can’t trust them at all. He doesn’t take well to rebellion. He feels that if they rebel in anyway it’s due to them being swayed by sin.
When we meet his sister Aunt Ifeoma, who was born and raised the same way as him, has a different approach to keeping her kids in line and it’s not by abuse. You can’t even blame papa’s upbringing because the book shows the two siblings in contrast with each other. The fact that he is a product of colonization is answer enough. He has adopted everything that the British have taught him. Religion is the biggest factor.
I feel that papa is portrayed in this light because it’s to show the reader that you should never judge a book by its cover. No one would believe that he lifts his hand to his wife and children because he gives money to charities, he goes to mass everyday and he’s loaded. Why would he need to beat his family? You can’t help but see him as a bad person throughout the novel. I want to see him as a somewhat good character but just because you give money to a charity does not make you a good person. If he was a good person at all, why would his wife kill him? Why would Jaja have animosity towards him? For Kimbali the loss of papa is a big deal because at the end of the day it was still her father. He raised her to be who she is and yes he did abuse her yet she didn’t despise him for it otherwise she would not feel the loss so much.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Papa's character is indeed complex. I agree that it is very hard to see Papa as a genuinely good man. Just because he gives to charities and the community it does not make up for his wrong doings. If his good deed outweigh the bad this does not make him a good man. How can one compare the abuse to giving. Does one hold more value than the other? He can not say "I beat my two kids today, so I will compensate by donating to three charities, and that will make up for my sin!" Is he good because he does not believe what he is doing is wrong? How could this be? When he does physically abuse his family he does help them by comforting them after, however he is not remorseful. It does not mean that Papa does not love his family, but the physical abuse he is carrying out can NOT really be out of love. If he is so religious where in his religion does it say the only way to make people followers and believers is to beat them until they are "perfect"?
ReplyDelete----Chanel Merchant----
I strongly agree that Papa has two sides to him. On one hand he wants to do what’s right by exposing the government’s corruption, being religious and giving to charity, but on the other hand he is a danger to his family because of the cruel abuse he imposes on them. Although these two perspectives persist throughout the story, I believe that the “Mr. Jekyll” side is most notable. Although Papa cares for his family he is mainly portrayed as an evil man. In fact he is no better then a murderer. Knowingly causing the death of an unborn child, more specifically an offspring is one of the most horrible acts a man can inflict on someone. I think that he deserves his devastating ending, whereas he brought it upon himself.
ReplyDelete-Diana Nemtzov