Kambili Achike

Question 1

LOVE SIP

“when the tea burned my tongue, it burned Papa’s love into me.”

“you shared the little things you loved with the people you loved”

Answer 1

shows kambili’s belief that papa’s ‘love sip’ is good for her, even though it hurts.

papa uses this to show he hurts them because he loves them.

-> metaphor for papa’s abuse, kambili believes it is out of love.

Question 2

“Then he reached out and held my hand, and i felt my mouth where full of melting sugar.” P.g. 26

Answer 2

• show’s kambili’s inextricable desire for papa’s approval
• simile: “melting sugar” -> papa’s approval brings a sweet taste to kambili

Question 3

how is kambili described by her classmates?

Answer 3

“backyard snob”

“awkward, tongue tied”

Question 4

“we didn’t scale the rod because we thought we could … we scaled the rod because we were terrified we couldn’t.”

Answer 4

• demonstrates the high expectations of Papa, tainting Kambili & Jaja’s life experience
• the fear of papa’s disapproval lingers in Jaja & Kambili’s minds

Question 5

“I was not sure what my laughter sounded like.”

Answer 5

• shows the repression of the achike household
• suppression of emotions
• lack of joy within the family - her laughter is foreign to her