In both novels, the mothers fail to play their roles respectively. For Kambili, although present, Mama fails to be this model as she lacks the “propensity to protect [herself] from Eugene’s incessant battery” (“Trying” Okuyade 15). Due to the oppressive environment, Mama’s character is flat and weak and serves nothing but a nurse for Kambili in desperate times. Thus, Kambili needs a strong and influential role model to guide and support her in the male-dominated patriarchal society: Aunty Ifeoma. In order to give Kambili and Jaja a new perspective of life, she advocates a trip to Nsukka which “marks an eclipse of Eugene’s unbridled religious hegemony” and enables Kambili to change in geographical location (“Changing” Okuyade 252). While Kambili’s
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Initially, Kambili has been raised with the rule that forbade her from admiring her body as well as looking upon another’s. Even when temptation is high, she always reminds herself that “vanity was a sin” and if she admired herself, she would be considered a sinner (Adichie 161). According to Eromosele, author of Sex and Sexuality in the Works of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, it is only when Kambili becomes at ease with her own body and is conscious of others that she begins to fully break her silence and naivety (Eromosele 101). To illustrate, during her stay in Nsukka, Kambili observes minute details of her grandfather Papa-Nnukwu’s body; she becomes fascinated by his “dark raisin” nipples among the “sparse grey tufts of hair on his chest” (Adichie 176). In the same manner, she expresses the same allure with Amaka’s nakedness. She compares her cousin to a “hausa goat: brown, long, and lean” (Adichie 25). By admiring the bodies of others, Kambili is liberated from her self-consciousness. Furthermore, Adichie uses lipstick as a symbol of femininity, and Father Amadi to impel Kambili’s awareness of sexuality in her writing. Lipstick denotes Kambili awareness of self as a woman, and likewise her sexual awakening. When Father Amadi invites her to the stadium, Kambili tries on lipstick for the first time and once Father Amadi notices, she “felt a smile start to creep over [her] face, stretching [her] lips and cheeks, an …show more content…
At first sight, she concedes to “lay aside her religiosity and let her body respond to the attractiveness of another person” (Eromosele 3). When Father Amadi compliments Kambili’s legs, she feels like “it seemed too close, too intimate, to have his eyes on my legs, on any part of me” (Adichie 183). Even though Kambili’s sexual awareness is illustrated “in a simple, innocent, and chastely manner”, the sexual tension between the two characters is evident (Eromosele 103). It is important to point out that Father Amadi has caught the attention of many women, but despite this fact, it is Kambili whom he admires the most. This is vital for Kambili’s growth as a women and her quest for voice as now she is now one step closer from becoming a women and Father Amadi assures her that she will be loved in her life and that she is worthy of care and
Initially, Kambili has been raised with the rule that forbade her from admiring her body as well as looking upon another’s. Even when temptation is high, she always reminds herself that “vanity was a sin” and if she admired herself, she would be considered a sinner (Adichie 161). According to Eromosele, author of Sex and Sexuality in the Works of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, it is only when Kambili becomes at ease with her own body and is conscious of others that she begins to fully break her silence and naivety (Eromosele 101). To illustrate, during her stay in Nsukka, Kambili observes minute details of her grandfather Papa-Nnukwu’s body; she becomes fascinated by his “dark raisin” nipples among the “sparse grey tufts of hair on his chest” (Adichie 176). In the same manner, she expresses the same allure with Amaka’s nakedness. She compares her cousin to a “hausa goat: brown, long, and lean” (Adichie 25). By admiring the bodies of others, Kambili is liberated from her self-consciousness. Furthermore, Adichie uses lipstick as a symbol of femininity, and Father Amadi to impel Kambili’s awareness of sexuality in her writing. Lipstick denotes Kambili awareness of self as a woman, and likewise her sexual awakening. When Father Amadi invites her to the stadium, Kambili tries on lipstick for the first time and once Father Amadi notices, she “felt a smile start to creep over [her] face, stretching [her] lips and cheeks, an …show more content…
At first sight, she concedes to “lay aside her religiosity and let her body respond to the attractiveness of another person” (Eromosele 3). When Father Amadi compliments Kambili’s legs, she feels like “it seemed too close, too intimate, to have his eyes on my legs, on any part of me” (Adichie 183). Even though Kambili’s sexual awareness is illustrated “in a simple, innocent, and chastely manner”, the sexual tension between the two characters is evident (Eromosele 103). It is important to point out that Father Amadi has caught the attention of many women, but despite this fact, it is Kambili whom he admires the most. This is vital for Kambili’s growth as a women and her quest for voice as now she is now one step closer from becoming a women and Father Amadi assures her that she will be loved in her life and that she is worthy of care and