Purple Hibiscus Post 2

I think there are a lot of religious parallels between the family in Purple Hibiscus and biblical stories, which jump out at me considering the extreme religious beliefs of the father. For instance, the father reminds me of a kind of devil (he gives off a facade of goodness, like an angel, but is really incredibly violent and controlling). Jaja is starting to look like a kind of prodigal son considering how quickly he much more readily he subverts their father. I'm trying to think of who Kambili might be; she reminds me of Eve in her innocence inforced by a violent father (parallel to God) and that forces outside her little "Garden of Eden" (like her Aunt) threaten to take her away or make her see hthings differently; I especially like this notion because it traditional story of Genesis on its head. 

Purple Hibiscus Post 1

I like that the book, though it is a story about domestic violence, is more multifaceted than the traditional domestic violence story I'm familiar with. For instance, Kambili doesn't think of her father as an oppressor and though she doesn't like the abuse and is afraid of him, she is also proud of him and views him sympathetically. I also find the incredibly amount of control with which he has approached and structured her life is interesting and I think it really informs her personality and builds the world well. The fact that her personality change is so slow also strikes me as very genuine, and I look forward to seeing how her character develops after spending the week with her aunt in Nsukka.  

Things Fall Apart Part II Analysis

I find the nature that Christian first appears to the tribe to be interesting because it is not nearly as zealous as I had expected; Mr. Brown, who is the only white person so far, seems very nice and the rest of his missionaries are African, and though they are to an extent cultural foreigners trying to influence the locals and turn them away from their religion (as they come from different, further off tribes), they are not using violence to do so. And in fact I would argue there are positive aspects of their arrival, as they do help save the twins and offer the osu a place to belong. Of course if the story just ended with the creation of religious diversity that gave members of the society the opportunity to pick which religion suits them and didn't otherwise oppress the indigenous peoples, that would be one thing; I have a feeling it does not end there and part III will be where the true breakdown of the tribe happens. The excess zealotry of some of the Christians is also unfortunate, such as when one purposefully kills the python (though it is interesting that this comes from a member of the clan, not a white missionary).

The idea of the python leads me to an interesting idea as well. It reminds me of the story of Adam and Eve, whereby the two lived in an undisturbed and utopian natural state (like the natives of the story do, or like Rousseau's idea that we discussed in class). Something comes in offering some new knowledge (whether it be the serpent, tempting them to eat from the tree of knowledge or the new missionaries proclaiming advanced religious knowledge) which they take (in one case both Adam and Eve eat the fruit, though in this story only a minority accept the new religious knowledge). Ultimately, it results in the corruption and destruction of the utopian garden in which they live (which I assume is to come). Though there are similarities, the allegory doesn't really hold, except for, I think, the fact that the idea of the serpent is invoked when the missionaries kill the python, which represents something sacred to the local tribal religion but something evil to the new Christians.