Adichie and How She Uses Her Novels to Spread and Help to Sto Single Stories

Lots of folks in places like the U.S. only see Africa in those commercials asking for donations to feed "starving Africa." You see celebs posting pics on social media with African kids, saying stuff like "It was such a humbling experience building schools for these children." Many in the U.S. think Africa is all about being thirsty, starving, and basically helpless. But Adichie knows firsthand that this isn't the whole picture; it's not the Africa she grew up in. Coming to America, she faced all these single stories about her homeland. "My American roommate was shocked by me. She asked where I learned to speak English so well and was confused when I said that Nigeria's official language is English. She asked if she could listen to my tribal music and was really disappointed when I handed her a Mariah Carey tape," Adichie said, talking about her first encounters with people's assumptions about her life. That's when she knew her novel had to show readers what life in Nigeria is really like. In Purple Hibiscus, Adichie gives readers a better idea of what life in Nigeria could be like, helping to bust those single stories about the place she calls home.

One common assumption about life in Nigeria is the living conditions. Many people think Africans are so poor that they all live in huts or shacks. Adichie clears this up with detailed imagery of where the main character, Kambili, lives. "I sat at my bedroom window after I changed; the cashew tree was so close I could reach out and pluck a leaf if it were not for the silver-colored crisscross of mosquito netting" (page 8). Mentioning the "silver-colored crisscross mosquito netting," a small detail, helps readers connect because they see this kind of netting in their own lives. Another way Adichie uses imagery is by talking about the size of the house. Kambili explains that she has a large house with a big backyard. "Our yard was wide enough to hold a hundred people dancing atilogwu, spacious enough for each dancer to do the usual somersaults and land on the next dancer’s shoulders" (page 9). This shows that the character doesn't live in a shack; she's wealthy enough to have a big house. Another single story is about African religions and traditions, often seen as very tribal. Adichie’s roommate expected her to have tribal music. Yet, Adichie writes Kambili as strictly Catholic, a well-known religion. Purple Hibiscus includes many Catholic traditions like Palm Sunday. "She would weave the palm fronds into sagging cross shapes and hang them on the wall beside our gold-framed family photo," something readers might find familiar. While Adichie writes about a non-tribal religion, she doesn’t ignore traditional African beliefs. "Yet Eugene will not let him into this house, will not even greet him… Eugene has to stop doing God's job. God is big enough to do his own work. If God will judge our father, then let God do the judging, not Eugene." This quote shows both religious beliefs, giving a fuller story of African culture.

Adichie shows that Nigeria is pretty similar to the U.S. but also different. Only talking about religion and living situations would create another single story, making it seem like Nigeria is just like the U.S. when it's not. Africa does have many economic issues and a very corrupt government. "I saw the soldier raise his whip in the air. The whip was long. It curled in the air before it landed on the woman's shoulders. Another soldier was kicking down trays of fruit, squashing papayas with his boots and laughing." Not many people know this sort of thing happens in Africa every day.

Adichie's novel Purple Hibiscus gives many examples of how life in Africa can be like life in the U.S. but still very different. She uses her writing to tell a full, complex story of Africa and its culture, opening readers' eyes to the fact that they don’t know as much about Africa as they think they do.