"My life will change only if I want it to change" (Adichie 282)
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's story is totaly reversed from Purple Hibiscus to Half of a Yellow Sun. Starting from family structure and relationship to features and traits of each characters, there are countless similarities and differences between the two novels.
Purple Hibiscus is mainly about the development of the sibling, Kambili and Jaja as they overcome the struggle of living in a harsh family violence. However, Half of a Yellow Sun’s sibling, Olanna and Kainene, are foil characters and they are nothing alike each other. They do not connect well and even close enough to talk to each other about their problems. Olanna does not even “remember the last time that Kainene had come into her room” (Adichie 44). In addition, through the half of the book, they do not see or even talk to each other for three years caused by a conflict of cheating of Olanna and Richard as they try to “keep things normal” (Adichie, 305) even when they had an affair. Siblings in Half of a Yellow Sun are constantly jealous and always fighting each other. However, by the end of the novel when they forgive each other, they start to look like that one of Purple Hibiscus. By the end of the novel, when the war is at its peak, Olanna and Kainene starts to depend each other and actually communicate on their struggles and hardship in life, marriage, family..etc. Both now “noticed that they were both walking at a leisurely pace and that their steps were in harmony” (Adichie 489), and talk about their old days with grandpa when he “used to say that it gets worse and their it gets better” (Adichie 489).
Another similarities and differences between two novels is the structure of family. The similarity with dads in each novel is that both dads cause disappointment and does not play a perfect role as a head in family. In Purple Hibiscus, the Achike family is dominated by overly-obsessive, violent dad; there is not a single day without dad's violence. In Olanna and Kainene’s family, dad has let down his wife and gave the family a disgrace by bringing the “mistress” in “a house in Ikeja” (Adichie 271) and cheat on his wife. However, as the characteristics of dads in both novels were similar, the characteristics of moms were foil of each other. Mom in Purple Hibiscus is the most innocent one in the whole entire novel and she does not contain any power to withdraw or have revenge toward her violent husband (who lead her to have numerous of miscarriages with “blood on the floor” (Adichie 33). Different than mom in Purple Hibiscus, mom in Half of a Yellow Sun is controlling and curses Olanna because she thought Olanna was not right for her son, calling her “loose woman” (Adichie 124), “witch” (Adichie 123) and more (she later use curse to never allow Olanna to get pregnant and have another woman have a child of her son).
Purple Hibiscus is mainly about the development of the sibling, Kambili and Jaja as they overcome the struggle of living in a harsh family violence. However, Half of a Yellow Sun’s sibling, Olanna and Kainene, are foil characters and they are nothing alike each other. They do not connect well and even close enough to talk to each other about their problems. Olanna does not even “remember the last time that Kainene had come into her room” (Adichie 44). In addition, through the half of the book, they do not see or even talk to each other for three years caused by a conflict of cheating of Olanna and Richard as they try to “keep things normal” (Adichie, 305) even when they had an affair. Siblings in Half of a Yellow Sun are constantly jealous and always fighting each other. However, by the end of the novel when they forgive each other, they start to look like that one of Purple Hibiscus. By the end of the novel, when the war is at its peak, Olanna and Kainene starts to depend each other and actually communicate on their struggles and hardship in life, marriage, family..etc. Both now “noticed that they were both walking at a leisurely pace and that their steps were in harmony” (Adichie 489), and talk about their old days with grandpa when he “used to say that it gets worse and their it gets better” (Adichie 489).
Another similarities and differences between two novels is the structure of family. The similarity with dads in each novel is that both dads cause disappointment and does not play a perfect role as a head in family. In Purple Hibiscus, the Achike family is dominated by overly-obsessive, violent dad; there is not a single day without dad's violence. In Olanna and Kainene’s family, dad has let down his wife and gave the family a disgrace by bringing the “mistress” in “a house in Ikeja” (Adichie 271) and cheat on his wife. However, as the characteristics of dads in both novels were similar, the characteristics of moms were foil of each other. Mom in Purple Hibiscus is the most innocent one in the whole entire novel and she does not contain any power to withdraw or have revenge toward her violent husband (who lead her to have numerous of miscarriages with “blood on the floor” (Adichie 33). Different than mom in Purple Hibiscus, mom in Half of a Yellow Sun is controlling and curses Olanna because she thought Olanna was not right for her son, calling her “loose woman” (Adichie 124), “witch” (Adichie 123) and more (she later use curse to never allow Olanna to get pregnant and have another woman have a child of her son).