Reflecting the Times: Style and Setting in Chimamanda Adiche's Purple Hibiscus

Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche's Purple Hibiscus of 2003 set in postcolonial Nigeria during the 1980s and 1990s when the wounds of Coups and Military dictatorship in Nigeria held sway. It is a novel whose subject Matter is largely focused on the experience of a Nigerian Family, a time of political and social turmoil. The novel is a bildungsroman that focuses greatly on family relationships as well as religious and cultural ideas. For instance, the passage describing Kambili and Jaja's first meal at their Aunt's house in Nsukka provides a stark contrast to the oppressive atmosphere in Enugu as a result of her father's abusive nature. Also the freedom and vibrancy of Aunty Ifeoma's household despite their financial limitations bewilders Kambili while lifting the restrictions on her life and exposing her to radically diverse values and beliefs. In this regard Adichie foreshadows the development of Kambili's character through the immense contrast between her own house and the Nsukka households. This style in the novel is creatively powered with lots of literary imageries and devices that help the message in the novel to be refreshing and current.