Purple Hibiscus Part 2

For this post, I'm going to comment on things I found significant in the book based on the annotations I made...
Page 111: Kevin kind of is two-faced. He tattles on the kids to their father, but then he does things the father wouldn't like, like bribery. The kids don't tattle on him.
Page 114: Aunt Ifeoma's village and house is the "Africa that we know". Like Adichie talked about, we're often only shown one side of Africa, the poor side. That is what is being shown here, a village and family that is lacking money. It's interesting that Adichie showed the rich part first. I wonder what effect the book would have on the reader if the story was switched around to show the aunt's village before the father's.
Page 116: It's clear that Amaka is jealous of Kambili. How old is Amaka? I feel like she hasn't developed a filter yet, that's why she is so rude to Kambili.
Page 121: Again, the poor side of Africa with the toilet is shown. This is exactly what the readers expect to see when they read about Africa.
Page 125: I thought the difference in religion between the two families was interesting. I wonder how this difference came about. Is it a village difference?
Page 128: The purple hibiscus which shows the mixing of culture. Does this mean that the Aunt is a peacemaker?
Page 142: Since you said the book will have a plot twist, I wrote: "Will Kambili kill Amaka?" But after reaching page 206, I think that's highly unlikely.
Page 145: I HATE THE FATHER. HOW CAN HE THINK HE WILL GO TO HEAVEN BY CUTTING OFF HIS KID'S FINGER AND ABUSING HIS CHILDREN. I HATE HOW HE POURS WATER ON THEM LATER AND BEATS HIS WIFE. One would think that since he is so religious, he would not beat his children. But it's cool that Jaja found a passion, gardening, that he likes.
Page 150: It's sad to me that she prays for her grandpa to be saved. The part that is so sad is that she doesn't know any better, since it's something her dad has taught her to do.
Page 161: I liked the story that the grandpa told. It reminded me of the stories that they told in TFA.
Page 170: When the aunt told Kambili to talk back to her. . . I have mixed feelings about that. First, it was bad that she wasn't correcting her own child, but it was good that she was telling Kambili to grow a pair.
Page 173: Kambili and Father Amadi sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Here is the first sign that she has a crush on him. It's cool to see it evolve through the chapter because it seems like he gives her more self confidence.
Page 179: The first time Kambili laughs in the book.
Page 181: Just when I thought the book would be uplifting, it gets crushed again. I was happy for Kambili because she finally is happy on her trip, but now her dad's ruining everything.
Page 182: My heart broke a little bit when the grandpa died, but I feel like the death makes Kambili and Amaka stronger.
Page 191: I liked earlier when the Aunt told Jaja that it is okay to be brave and stand up for what you believe. On this page, I saw the first sign of him doing that to his dad.
Page 192: The trip has humbled Kambili.
Page 194: Another example of the dick father burning water. I hope the kids stand up to him sooner or later.
Page 198: Maybe he's trying not to be a dick father now because he sent money for the funeral?
I liked this part. I like the character development and think this is one of the most interesting books I read. I'm excited to keep reading!

Purple Hibiscus: 1

Like I said, I really like this book. I feel that it's more of a story so it's more enjoyable for me to read. I have written so many notes in the margins about characters and settings. My first main question is is the dad abusive? And if so, how can that be if he's so religious? How famous is he? These children are very privileged and their family is very rich. It's interesting to see a rich side of Africa, because most people (myself included) wouldn't typically think of Africa being a rich country. I like how more and more of the family is introduced. And if their vacation house is 4 stories tall, how big is their actual house??? One question I thought of is if I would like to be those kids. They have a lavish lifestyle, which I would definitely want, but would I want to be one of them because of the father they have?
I forgot to mention this in my last post, but I feel like the father is like Okonkwo. His attitude and temperament is all over the place, and they are both violent. The father in PH puts so much pressure on his children. I would hate that so much. And why the heck would you disown your own father because he doesn't share the same religion as you? It's just like Okonkwo disowning his dad! But I guess this shows how important religion is to their culture. You know how when parents shelter their kids too much and then they get freedom and go crazy? I think that will happen in this book. Maybe when they go on the trip with their aunt, they will drink and smoke and party hard!!! Just kidding but I think that definitely something will happen.
Also, I believe this book will have a crazy plot twist just like TFA does. Maybe the government will kill a bunch of people or something crazy.
Since you read so many blog posts, do you ever make it to the end of all of them?
If so, here's an African joke to congratulate you for making it to the end!
Have you heard any good South African jokes? They're malarious!

Things Fall Apart & Purple Hibiscus

In the first sentence there is an allusion to "Things Fall Apart"!!!!! Even though Purple Hibiscus is taking me a bit longer to read than Things Fall Apart, I enjoy it a lot better. TFA is in third-person point of view and PH is in 1st. I prefer first person pov because it sounds more personal but also more relatable. Rather than learning about a whole tribe, we learn more about this family. It also shows a more modern version of Africa. I feel that both books really show the religion in Africa, but I believe that PH contrasts the religion in TFA? I'm a bit confused by this but I think that the grandpa in PH follows the same religion that is talked about in TFA because of the mention of the word "chi". So perhaps the family in PH is showing the religion that the missionaries brought into Africa. I know pretty much nothing about religion, so what are these two religions called? Is one pagan? I also like the use of dialogue in PH. I felt that TFA was lacking dialogue so it's nice to have it in this book. They both portray Africa differently though. One similarity they show is the violence and death, but they both show different economic sides of Africa. TFA focuses on the poorer, tribal side of Africa when PH shows the more modern side. The names are still similar though, AND SO ARE THE YAMS! I like Jaja's name because that's Spanish for "haha". (Also Vitamin C is Spanish for Vitamin yes). When are these books supposed to take place? The only reason I'm asking is because PH sounds much more modern with the cars and big houses, so I'd like to see the time difference between these two narratives. And which parts of Africa do these two books show? I believe PH said it was Nigeria, but where was TFA?
Lastly, is there a reason why we read TFA first?
I'm excited to read the rest of this book and compare and contrast. I'm also excited for my journey to Africa in less than a month so that I can also compare and contrast with my own eyes.

Reflection on Things Fall Apart

They actually do fall apart. Everything falls together incredibly fast. I enjoyed the first part of the book much better than the rest. I thought it was interesting to learn about certain aspects of their culture and the characters. When the book reached the end of part 2 and part 3, I felt the book went downhill. I became bored and didn't like all of the talk about the white man coming it. I believe it was very important to include in the book though, to show what happened in Africa. But I believe this book would have been much more enjoyable if it just focused on their tribe and culture. I did gain more r-e-s-p-e-c-t (it's hard to spell that word without thinking of the song) for Okonkwo because he understood that he would have to work his way up the rankings in his group again. He was also devastated about what had happened, so that showed that he does have feelings. I really liked how on page 180-181, Mr. Brown and Akunna had a conversation and they shared their similarities and differences about their beliefs. I also felt like they introduced way too many characters into part 3. I can't follow the names. Some of the things the white men brought were good. I believe that Mr. Brown was good because he brought a trading post, a school, and a hospital. But when he left, things began to fall apart even more. This book showed just how rapidly things can change. My final question is: do you think that the town broke down because Okonkwo wasn't there?
Also, it sucked that he died. I wasn't expecting that. That was a major plot twist and I actually felt sad when he did which also surprised me. I think I grew to like him a bit because he was becoming a leader again by trying to protect his tribe and he seemed to be the only one with the courage to do so.