The Symbol of Purple Hibiscus Literary Analysis Essay Example

The main and most important symbol in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's book is the purple Hibiscus. It is also the book title, which shows how much the Purple Hibiscus has an important role in the book. The symbol represents the freedom and independence Jaja and Kambili find in Nsukka. Jaja was infatuated by Purple Hibiscus throughout the book. When Jaja first saw the Purple Hibiscus, “That's a hibiscus, isn't it, Aunty? Jaja asked, staring at a plant close to the barbed wire fencing.” (Adichie 128). Jaja felt that the flower is very rare, fragrant with the undertones of freedom, Purple Hibiscus has something that is different from any other plant. “ ‘O maka, so beautiful,’ Jaja said. He was running a finger over a flower petal.” (128). Jaja liked hibiscus so much that he wrapped the stem of the purple hibiscus in black cellophane and took it back to their gardener in Enugu and planted them. Purple Hibiscus is difficult to care for, they are fragile like mama Beatrice's figurine on fragile glass. The Purple Hibiscus can also be seen as a symbol of courage to affect change. “See, the Purple Hibiscuses are about to bloom” (254). “The next day was Palm Sunday, the day Jaja did not go to communion” (254). As the Purple hibiscus begins to bloom, it's also time for Jaja to fight for his own freedom. The bloom of Purple Hibiscus represents Jaja himself also blooming, meaning he begins to change. The Red Hibiscus represents that nothing had changed in their household, and the change started to occur when the Purple Hibiscus started to blooming. Jaja defiance of his father Eugene, he didn’t go to the Palm Sunday, and Jaja pushed his study desk close to his door to shut it so Papa couldn’t get in, and he also refused to eat dinner with the family. He is determined to fight his Father without fear like he used to be before. Jaja's silence and suffering towards Papa were broken when he and Kambili went to see their aunt in Nsukka. Aunt Ifeoma has made Jaja see that he should get more freedom and has thought of freeing himself from Papa's orders. The Purple Hibiscus represents this long sought freedom. Finally, he got his own victory when he frankly told his father that “ ‘We are going to Nsukka. Kambili and I,’ I heard him say. I did not hear what papa said, then I heard Jaja say, ‘We are going to Nsukka today, not tomorrow. If Kevin will not take us, we will still go. We will walk if we have to’ ”. Papa didn’t say anything and agreed. At that moment, Jaja felt he finally did it, the flower inside of him finally bloomed as his Purple Hibiscus. The Purple Hibiscus is the personification of Jaja won from his father. Although Jaja won over his father, he still didn't get his freedom because he accepted to go to prison on behalf of his mother, where he couldn't do what he wanted. That made the representation by Purple Hibiscus become just Jaja's thought, it's not real, it's ambiguous. “ ‘Being defiant can be a good thing sometimes,’ Aunty Ifeoma said. ‘Defiance is like marijuana - it is not a bad thing when it is used right.’ ” (144). Jaja's freedom was about to bloom like a Purple Hibiscus. But at the end, the flower inside Jaja that represents his freedom has withered. On the other hand Purple Hibiscus is still there, in his garden, and continuing to blooming many other flowers.