Amaka Character Analysis

              The character that sticks out to me most in my reading of Purple Hibiscus is Amaka, Auntie Ifeoma’s outspoking daughter, and a seemingly endless source of anxiety for Kimbili. Amaka and Ifeoma serve as foils for Kimbili and her mother, showing a different side of the domestic woman in this culture – perhaps what Kimbili’s family dynamic would have been more like had her Papa not been around, or had been different. Amaka is a teenage girl that mirrors more closely what we as Americans are used to thinking of as teenage girls – they wear makeup and jewelry, look at magazines, and dress more freely – though their behavior in no way displays that they wish to be American. In fact, in contrast to Kimbili and her family, Amaka is sharply opposed to longing for white culture, adamantly proud of her culture, which she demonstrates in many ways, including her choice in listening to traditional music, which she believes more authentic and meaningful, and unashamedly singing in Igbo during prayer. Kimbili, being reflective of everything her father says and does, does show disdain and shame for her heritage and culture, which her father tries to hide as much as possible. Though her Papa is a man of integrity, as demonstrated by his newspaper, he has parlayed a sense of embarrassment of anything that is non-western in the way they live their lives and practice their religion. One of the reasons Amaka makes Kimbili so uncomfortable is because she is the first to make Kimbili aware of how her family uses her privilege to shun their roots – or even make Kimbili aware of how privileged she is in the first place. Although Amaka is often rude in the way she shames Kimbili for her advantages, she is doing important work – privilege, in this case somewhat extreme class privilege, is something that the people who have it must be aware of, especially if they can use that power to help others, which Kimbili’s family pointedly does not.

            As lazy as it is to draw my comparison between two Adichie characters, Amaka reminds me most closely of the narrator/protagonist from “The Thing Around Your Neck,” who demonstrates what national pride genuinely looks like outside of the context of your country. Africans are often made to believe that they have every reason to assimilate and be ashamed of where they are from – that they should be grateful for any opportunity. The narrator of this story and Amaka share that they understand they have no reason to be ashamed, that their culture is their own, and it is not to be looked down upon or appropriated by anyone, black or white. I like to think that the narrator in “The Thing Around Your Neck” is what Amaka would be like grown up, if she lived outside of Africa, though hopefully doing something more for social justice like she dreams of.