Ideology in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus (2003)

This article focuses on the first novel by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus (2003). It examines how religious prejudice is encoded in the account of the book’s autodiegetic narrator, a fifteen-year-old girl whose father is a violent, extremist Igbo Catholic. Based on a close reading of the text, the essay argues that an analysis of the novel’s use of speech and thought presentation may contribute to the assessment of the main character’s evolving ideological stance. It is suggested that the resulting appraisal of the narrator’s development provides key insights into the interpretation of the book.