Western mentality and emasculation in Chimamanda Adichie's Purple Hibiscus

Abstract

The condition of Africa since colonisation has continued to form part of the major discourses in the human sciences, especially in literary criticism. The first harm colonisation did to Africans was to impose on them a way of life completely alien to them and criminalise any form of agitation to question this imposition, thereby leaving them with an undue reverence for anything Western. This way of thinking has continued to impede the understanding of our true selves. Since Africa encountered colonisation, she has not ceased to grapple with the daunting challenge of grasping the meaning of life. This paper intends to examine the emasculating effect of colonial mentality using Eugene's family as a microcosm of larger society as depicted in Adichie's ground-breaking novel, Purple Hibiscus, which presents interestingly new and useful insights into the explication of the father-figure as an agent of colonial emasculation. It appears that there is a tacit agreement between members of the family to eliminate Papa (Eugene) who may be seen as a vestige of their colonial past. This action vividly brings out the revenge motif in the story. Using a postcolonial-oriented critical approach, this paper seeks to open a new way of thinking which would free us from the stifling bondage of falling for westernisation hook, line and sinker.