PURPLE HIBISCUS QUOTES Flashcards
Quote for Kambili:
“The words in my text…”
“The words in my text book kept turning into blood each time i read them.”
Quote for Kambili:
“I remained a…”
“I remained a backyard snob to most of my class girls.
Quote for Kambili:
“I cleared my throat…”
“I cleared my throat, willed the words to come. I knew them, thought them. But they would not come.”
Quote for Kambili:
“It was like balancing…”
“It was like balancing a sack of gravel on my head every day at school and not being allowed to steady with my hand.” (Pressure in school).
Quote for Kambili:
“Last night…”
“Last night, i dreamed that i was laughing, but it did not sound like my laughter, although i was not sure what my laughter sounded like. It was cackling and throaty and enthusiastic, like Aunty Ifeoma’s.”
Quote for Kambili:
“I stood there…”
“I stood there, staring at her, wishing Aunty Ifeoma was there, to speak for me.”
Quote for Kambili:
“My hands started…”
“My hands started to shake […] [Father Amadi’s] loping, comfortable gait pulled my eyes and held them.”
Quote for Kambili:
“As [Father Amadi] drove…”
“As [Father Amadi] drove, we sang Igbo choruses. I lifted my voice until it was smooth and melodious like his.”
Quote for Kambili:
“Anger suddenly…”
“Anger suddenly filled me, constricting my air passages, pressing my nostrils shut. Anger was alien and refreshing.”
Quote for Kambii:
“I laughed…”
“I laughed. It seemed so easy now, laughter.”
Quote for Jaja:
“Jaja’s defiance…”
“Jaja’s defiance seemed to me like Aunty Ifeoma’s experimental purple hibiscus: rare, fragant and with undertones of freedom… a freedom to be, to do.”
Quote for Jaja:
“Jaja spoke…”
“Jaja spoke to me with his eyes.”
Quote for Jaja:
“[Jaja] looked as…”
“[Jaja] looked as though he had been lying there watching TV his whole life. It was the same way he looked in Aunty Ifeoma’s garden.”
Quote for Jaja:
“Aunty Ifeoma said…”
“Aunty Ifeoma said, “your father wants you to stay here a few days longer,” and Jaja smiled so widely i saw dimples i did not even know he had.”
Quote for Jaja:
“The key to my room…”
“The key to my room. I would like you to have it. Makana, because i would like some privacy.”
Quote for Jaja:
“Then i will die…”
“Then i will die. Fear had darkened Jaja’s eyes to the color of coal tar, but he looked Papa in the face now.”
Quote for Papa Eugene:
“Things started to…”
“Things started to fall apart […] when Papa flung his heavy missal across the room.”
Quote for Papa:
“Brother Eugene…”
“Brother Eugene […] could have chosen to be like other Big Men in this country but he spoke out for freedom.”
Quote for Papa:
“A love sip…”
“A love sip, he called it […] i knew that when the tea burned my tongue, it burned Papa’s love into me.”
Quote for Papa:
“We stood at…”
“We stood at the landing and watched Papa descend. Mama was slung over his shoulder.”
Quote for Papa:
“He poured…”
“He poured the hot water on my feet, slowly, as if he were conducting an experiment and wanted to see what would happen. He was crying now, tears streaming down his face.”
Quote for Papa:
“Everything i do…”
“Everything i do for you, i do for your own good,” Papa said.”
Quote for Mama:
“I used to wonder…”
“I used to wonder why she polished [the figurines] each time i heard the sounds from their room, like something being banged against a door.”
Quote for Mama:
“[Mama’s] face…”
“[Mama’s] face was swollen and the area around her right eye was the black-purple shade of an overripe avocado. She was smiling.”
