History Literature / PurpleHibiscus

->''"Jaja’s defiance seemed to me now like Aunty Ifeoma’s experimental [[FlowerMotifs purple hibiscus]]: rare, fragrant with the undertones of freedom, a different kind of freedom from the one the crowds waving green leaves chanted at Government Square after the coup. A freedom to be, to do."''

* DontMakeMeTakeMyBeltOff: Eugene beats Kambili with his belt. [[spoiler: She's knocked unconcious and wakes up in hospital]]

* Foil: Aunty Ifeoma to Eugene. Jaja to Kambili. Ifeoma's children to Jaja and Kambili. Ifeoma to Beatrice, considering their different reactions to the nature of Eugene.

* Futureshadowing: The first scene of the book is Eugene smashing Beatrice's figurines in anger. The following chapters detail the series of events that caused this.

[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/purple_hibiscus_5058.jpg]]

* AbusiveParents: Eugene to Kambili and Jaja. He seems to genuinely love them, but the two are put under immense pressure to do well at school, forbidden to speak to their grandfather, beaten often and he [[spoiler: scalds their feet as punishment. Eventually, Kambili ends up in hospital.]] He also beats his wife, but since she’s an adult and can more easily defend herself, most of the abuse is verbal and directed at damaging her property.

* DomesticAbuse: Eugene towards his wife, Beatrice. [[spoiler: She is implied to be beaten often and loses at least two children because of this.]]

* AbusiveParents: Eugene to Kambili and Jaja. He seems to genuinely love them, but the two are put under immense pressure to do well at school, forbidden to speak to their grandfather, beaten often and he [[spoiler: scalds their feet as punishment. Eventually, Kambili ends up in hospital.]] He also beats his wife, though we don’t see much of it since it’s from the children’s perspective.

* AbusiveParents: Eugene to Kambili and Jaja. He seems to genuinely love them, but the two are put under immense pressure to do well at school, forbidden to speak to their grandfather, beaten often and he [[spoiler: scalds their feet as punishment. Eventually, Kambili ends up in hospital.]]

* ArmorPiercingSlap: Ifeoma has one, according to Amaka.

* SpotOfTea: the Nigerian Eugene drinks tea from a colonial tea set often, inviting his children to take a sip and burn his love into their tongues. [[spoiler: eventually, his wife starts putting poison in the tea he drinks every day as revenge, causing him a KarmicDeath.]]

* RaisedCatholic: Literally in the case of Kambili's family, and it's a particularly brutal and repressive form.

''Purple Hibiscus'' is a 2004 novel by Nigerian author Chimanda Ngozi Adiche. It is a [[ComingOfAgeStory coming of age story]] in which a teenage girl watches her brother question her father's beliefs, discovers her own heritage and finally blooms into a competent, confident young woman.

* StraightEdgeEvil: Eugene, being a religious fanatic, although the AlternativeCharacterInterpretation "evil" is ambiguous.

* StraightEdgeEvil: Eugene, being a religious fanatic, although the [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation "evil" is ambiguous.

* ForcedMiscarriage: Eugene kills Beatrice's baby. [[spoiler: ''Twice''. The second time wasn't intentional, but still abuse.]]

* KnightTemplar: Eugene genuinely believes he is doing the right thing by giving his children extreme punishments, which is one of the main reasons the reader isn't meant to see him as a one-dimensional monster.

* StarightEdgeEvil: Eugene, being a religious fanatic, although the [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation "evil" is ambiguous.

* ForcedMiscarriage: Eugene kills Beatrice's baby. [[spoiler: <i>Twice</i>. The second time wasn't intentional, but still abuse.]]

* ForcedMiscarriage: Eugene kills Beatrice's baby. [[spoiler: _Twice_. The second time wasn't intentional, but still abuse.]]

* TragicVillain: Eugene is surprisingly sympathetic for an [[AbusiveParents abusive father]], seeing as he clearly genuinely loves his children despite the punishments he gives them.

* HateSink: Surprisingly enough, [[AvertedTrope averted]] with Eugene, who is meant to be pitied rather than hated. [[YMMV, though.]]