Previous
Literary Devices
Definition of Allusion
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to... read full definition
Key Examples in Purple Hibiscus
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Things Fall Apart:
In this passage Adichie calls on one of the novel’s motifs, alluding to Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. In so doing, she is situating the Achike family’s struggles within the larger context of postcolonial Nigeria and its struggle for self-definition:
Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion and Papa flung his heavy missal across the room and broke the figurines on the étagère.
Related Themes:
Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Jaja of Opobo:
As Jaja and Kambili chat with Aunty Ifeoma and her family, Adichie uses an allusion to a famous Nigerian historical figure to explore themes of resistance to oppressive power. Moments like this recur as motifs in Purple Hibiscus, as they reflect the tangled mixture of anti-colonial sentiment and Anglophilia in late-20th and early 21st-century Nigeria:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Obiora smiled and pushed his glasses up. ‘Jaja of Opobo was no saint, anyway. He sold his people into slavery, and besides, the British won in the end. So much for the defiance.’
‘The British won the war, but they lost many battles,’ Jaja said, and my eyes skipped over the rows of text on the page.
Related Themes:
