Nabokov and Adichie

Applying Nabokov's thoughts on what a writer needs to be to Chimamanda Adichie's novel Purple Hibiscus yields some interesting results. As the article states Nabokov believes that a writer needs to be a storyteller, a teacher, and an enchanter. Nabokov describes the storytelling aspect of a writer as the one that provides mindless entertainment and emotional participation. In this aspect, Adichie excels by including vivid descriptions of Papa Eugene's vicious punishments through the mind of his 16 year old daughter and victim, Kambili. She also includes happy emotions with the time spent at Aunty Ifeoma's house, the one place Jaja an Kambili can truly be themselves. Adichie also proves adept as the teacher, the provider of facts and knowledge. Her description of the complex relationship christianity has with the indigenous population and traditions provides a realistic look at christianity in Nigeria and the effect it has on family and non-family bonds. Christianity distanced Papa Eugene from his family, but made him very active in supporting many of his fellow churchgoers financially. The third aspect of a writer and the most important, according to Nabokov, is that of the enchanter. The enchanter is the portion that we really break down in class, the part of the book we tear apart searching for meaning. This is Adichie's first novel and as such, is not as strong in this aspect as the other two. However, she remains an extraordinary talent. She skillfully links christianity with the dark side of Papa Eugene by making him a good man at heart. He is, after all, the owner of The Standard, the only newspaper willing to publish the truth about the corrupt government. He also wants the best for his children, but his religiousness prevents him from truly being supportive of his children. Adichie turns the novel into a unique criticism of Catholicism by being a powerful enchantress.

W.E.B. Du Bois vs Papa Eugene vs Aunty Ifeoma

After reading W.E.B Du Bois's letter to his daughter, I was immediately thought back to the part in Purple Hibiscus when Kambili realizes the difference between the way that Aunty Ifeoma and Papa Eugene encouraged a desire for success in their children. The two characters are almost entirely different from each other and the way they encourage their children is no different. Aunty Ifeoma's children strive for greatness because they can believe they are can. This means that they are not afraid of failure and are willing to put themselves outside their comfort zone for the greater good of learning. On the other side, Papa Eugene's children strive for greatness because they are afraid of what will happen if they fail. They spend so much time cooped up in their rooms studying that they do not get any real world experience. Although both parents want the same thing—for their children to be great—the way in which they support their children differs greatly, thus the results do as well. This where W.E.B. Du Bois's letter comes in. His letter is one of encouragement, as he reminds his daughter that she came from privilege and must earn merit. Here, W.E.B. Du Bois's letter eerily resembles Papa Eugene's speech to Kambili when she comes second in her class. However, this is where the resemblance stops. Du Bois goes on to tell his daughter how what is important is her ability to be great, to conquer the world. He encourages her to try new experiences and to "take the cold bath bravely". He firmly tells her that she needs to work hard, but then quickly follows that up by telling his daughter she has it in her to achieve greatness, much like Aunty Ifeoma and her children. W.E.B. Du Bois's letter to his daughter is an exemplary model of a parent who knows how to raise successful children.

Post on 10 rules of Writing

I would like to start by saying that I love reading lists like Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing because I always learn something new or get an old question answered. This list has a few interesting pointers. One is that you should never use anything other than the word "said". I find this interesting because I feel that there are times when it makes the book a little more interesting, or at least less redundant when a writer uses other verbs. This rule is also interesting considering that another rule on Leonard's list is that there should never be an adverb describing the word "said". While I understand that if a writer needs to include an adverb modifying "said" than they probably didn't do a strong job of describing the situation. However, since an author following Leonard's rules cannot use any verb other than "said", their dialogue is more likely to come across as bland. Leonard argues that verbs other than "said" are intrusive, however; I find it to be the opposite. The other problem I have is that although Leonard is laying down ground rules, he gives examples of exceptions for many of them. What he is essentially saying is that if a person is good a writing, they can just ignore his rules. This makes the list almost useless since people good literature doesn't necessarily abide by it. One point that I agree with is "Use regional dialect sparingly", since it can be hard to read a book if you don't have any idea what's going on. I enjoyed reading this particular list, however it seems a little rushed and not well thought out to me due to the inclusion of exceptions.

Irony and Extremism in Purple Hibiscus

There is great irony in Papa Eugene's religious extremism. First, Christianity is a religion that is centered around being kind to others, especially to family members. While Papa Eugene is certainly kind to people outside his family, he is very cruel to most of his kin. Herein lies even more irony. Papa Eugene wants his children to be successful, so he wants them to be number one in their class. However, he is so adamant about being number one, that he causes Kambili to feel disappointed in herself when she comes in second. Furthermore, Kambili feels the need to be even more focused on her schoolwork, which shuts out any way for her to express herself. Papa Eugene's wife has only her figurines to herself. They are the only thing she truly owns, and they are eventually shattered by Papa EugeneThe lack of outlets for creativity is just one product of the stifling environment created by Papa Eugene's religious fervor. Another example of irony lies in the fact that Jaja is beginning to question Papa Eugene's rules. This is ironic because Papa Eugene has trie to set up a world in which the laws of Christianity are absolute and unquestionable, but since he tries so hard to keep his children in the dark about the rest of the world, he is actually the reason that Jaja begins to have his doubts about the religion. There are many more effects that result from Papa Eugene's religious extremism and I have a feeling that there are more to be revealed.