Purple Hibiscus is a wise, honest, coming-of-age story set in Nigeria told in first person narrative by fifteen year old Kambili. She is the timid, obedient daughter of a wealthy businessman and publisher. Her father routinely abuses her, her older brother, and her mother as a form of discipline. His violence, made confusing when he shows a caring, generous side, make the family miserable. As a result, Kambili is emotionally and socially underdeveloped and does not behave like a normal girl. She is somewhat unaware that other families live happily, until she begins to experience the happy family lifestyle for herself when she stays with her Aunt and cousins out of town. Though the more obvious themes of the story are about trials of growing up or being the victim of domestic violence, many seem to look past that at the very core; Kambili's story is about her misery. There is a common saying, "money can't buy happiness". Yet we live in a greedy, materialistic world that grows more and more expensive each day. It seems impossible that we can be happy without all the frivolous things we have come to know as a "mundane", "ordinary", or even worse - "household essentials". Mark Twain once said, “Lack of money is the root of all evil.”Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie seems to disagree wholeheartedly. Her book completely contradicts the phrase; the characters Aunty Ifeoma, Papa-Nnukwu, Amaka, Obiora, and Chima, as well as numerous insignificant characters are perhaps the happiest people in the story, but also the poorest. Aunty Ifeoma and her children share a tiny apartment with rarely any electricity or running water. Yet they are all cheerful and laugh so often that it is among the first things Kambili notices in her extended family. Papa-Nnukwu, Kambili and Jaja's estranged grandfather, is described to be in poor health and eats meager food. He has lost almost all contact with his only son and lives in a rundown old house alone. But he is still grateful for his long life and is always happy to see his grandchildren, even though Kambili's father is adamant about their visits being kept to a minimum. It is because Kambili has a more luxurious lifestyle that Amaka denounces her. Amaka believes that Kambili is ungrateful for her priviliged upbringing, when in reality, Kambili hardly notices her father’s fortune. She is too preoccupied with her schoolwork and pleasing her father so he will not beat her. Kambili lives in a constant state of fear and unhappiness and cannot bother to enjoy the luxuries of her life.

On the contrary, poverty does not lead to unhappiness. Aunty Ifeoma and her children embody this. Living with them and sharing their humble lifestyle is when Kambili starts to open up. She begins to speak, louder and clearly, unlike her former, silent way of communication with Jaja through their eyes. She even begins to laugh, an ability she had not been aware she could do.
“As we drove back to Enugu, I laughed loudly, above Fela’s stringent singing. I laughed because Nsukka’s untarred roads coat cars with dust in the harmattan and with sticky mud in the rainy season. Because the tarred roads spring potholes like surprise presents and the air smells of hills and history and the sunlight scatters the sand and turns it into gold dust. Because Nsukka could free something deep inside your belly that would rise up to your throat and come out as a freedom song. As laughter.”
Jaja adapts to Aunty Ifeoma’s outspoken, unapologetic values quickly, and challenges their father upon their return. Because of his experience with Aunty Ifeoma’s encouraging, liberal, parenting style, he has begun to form his own identity. It is when people do not have money that they are forced out of their comfort zone and must live for things other than possessions. The end result is that the less fortunate, once they meet all their living essentials, are able to enjoy the things that truly matter – which is all the stuff money can’t buy. All members of Aunty Ifeoma’s family seem to find joy in things that don’t cost a lot of money. Rarely does Aunty Ifeoma ask for financial help from her brother to stabilize her widowed life; though he would gladly buy her a house and a car, in exchange for her and the children’s conversion to Catholicism, she does not give in. Towards the end of the story, the university where Aunty Ifeoma teaches is shut down and she finds herself jobless and without any income. She quickly applies for a visa to bring herself and her children to America, despite discouragement from friends who believe she is abandoning the country. Amaka frequently sends letters to Kambili, and in one letter writes,
“Sure, there is never a power outage and hot water runs from the tap, but we don’t laugh anymore...because we don’t even see each other.”
This is another example of how poverty does not always lead to unhappiness, or the opposite, how money can make one happy. Amaka is clearly not as happy as she was in Nigeria, but is nonetheless grateful for the comfort of American living. It has been said that Nigeria is among the happiest countries in the world, despite the crippling poverty and corrupt government. First world countries are happier than third world countries is a myth, and it all boils down to money, yet again. People in first world countries, like the United States, are constantly trying to purchase happiness instead of people in developing countries, like Nigeria, where happiness is found through love and connection instead. However, this does not mean that we should all move to Nigeria; it simply suggests that the more privileged American should take a note from the Nigerians and learn to find satisfaction and contentment through family and friends.
In the simplest terms, Kambili’s life was unhappy because she lacked many things one needs to be happy – a sense of belonging, acceptance, respect, and safety. She was often confused about what kind of person her father is and why he did the things he did. A question that comes to mind is, “would he be the same kind of person if he was not wealthy?”Would he have had the nerve or time to punish and hurt his family? That being said, would Aunty Ifeoma been more strict with her children had she been a rich woman? If learning anything from the story, it is that there is both good and bad in people and that our assets do not make an impact on what kind of people we are. Kambili, despite being beaten by her father, still strives to protect him and wants only the best for him.
“I meant to say I am sorry that Papa broke your figurines, but the words that came out were, ‘I’m sorry your figurines broke, Mama’.” She cannot bring herself to admit that her father broke the figurines even though everyone witnessed him destroying them, purely out of goodness and loyalty to him. It is with this quote that the domestic violence in Kambili’s home really makes an impact on the reader. Another question that comes to mind is “how would Kambili behave if her father was not violent or obsessively religious?” --