Purple Hibiscus Post 4

One thing I like about Purple Hibiscus is that it doesn't just subvert traditional expectations of what Africa is, it also subverts Western beliefs about what Africa should be. Namely, the fact that Kambili's father and immediate family, which are wealthy, Christian, and ambitious in the traditional expectation by Westerners of what Africans should strive to achieve, are incredibly dysfunctional. The father's insistence on success and exceptionalism (something stressed by Westerners) manifests in an incredibly cruel and abusive system. His intense Christian religiosity, something many Western religious figures like the idea of, results in an incredibly judgemental and excessive worldview. Instead, it's the Aunt's family, which embraces African heritage and culture and other notions that are perhaps unwanted in the minds of westerners, which appears happy, healthy, loving, and safe.