payment page
“Then I will die.” Fear had darkened Jaja’s eyes to the color of coal tar, but he looked Papa in the face now. “Then I will die, Papa.”
The novel begins with the fallout of Jaja’s refusal to take communion on Palm Sunday. His refusal is an open and brazen defiance of Eugene’s wishes, and an expression that he no longer believes in Catholicism. Jaja’s statement that he’s willing to accept the death that comes with not taking the Eucharist has the tone of a martyr, and his behavior follows suit. By openly challenging Eugene, Jaja brings the intolerable nature of their family’s status quo out into the open at great personal risk. This moment establishes a pattern of Jaja risking his personal safety for what or whom he believes is important.
Jaja closed his eyes for a while and then opened them. “We will take care of the baby; we will protect him.”
This moment comes from Part 2, Speaking with Our Spirits, in response to Kambili telling Jaja that Beatrice is pregnant. Jaja here behaves not like a seventeen-year-old boy but a grown adult, highlighting how the abuse in the Achike family has caused him to take on age-inappropriate responsibilities. Throughout the novel, he will attempt to take the blame for things that both he and Kambili have done together, and he later sacrifices his own freedom for Beatrice’s.
She turned to Jaja and added, “I told your mother that it was an appropriate nickname, that you would take after Jaja of Opobo.”
“Jaja of Opobo? The stubborn king?” Obiora asked.
“Defiant,” Aunt Ifeoma said. “He was a defiant king.”
This conversation between Aunty Ifeoma and Obiora about Jaja’s name underscores his role and importance in the novel. Like Jaja of Opobo defies British rule at great personal cost, Jaja refuses to appease Eugene. Jaja’s defiance of Eugene on Palm Sunday changes the dynamic in the household and makes it impossible for the status quo to continue. Aunty Ifeoma underscores the importance of not confusing defiance with stubbornness, as Eugene later will do with Jaja’s behavior. Being defiant means taking a stand against something, an active refusal, whereas being stubborn is refusing to go along with something out of pride.
Jaja came up to the verandah. “It’s nothing, Aunty.” He lifted his shoulders as he stood there, like someone proudly wearing clothes that were not his size.
This quotation comes from Part 2, Speaking with Our Spirits, when Jaja cleans Aunty Ifeoma’s car while the doctor examines Papa-Nnukwu. Here, Jaja attempts to protect Aunty Ifeoma from her worry and grief by helping with a household chore. As Kambili observes with the simile about clothing, Jaja tries to step into a role he’s too young for, as it is not a teenager’s job to care for his aunt.
I should have taken care of Mama. Look how Obiora balances Aunty Ifeoma’s family on his head, and I am older than he is. I should have taken care of Mama.
This quotation comes from Part 3, The Pieces of Gods, when Jaja and Kambili return home after learning of Eugene’s death. The full extent of Jaja’s distorted view of his role in the family becomes evident here, foreshadowing him taking the blame for Eugene’s death. Jaja views himself as the de facto “man of the house” because of Eugene’s abuse. He even projects his situation onto Obiora, though it’s clear that Aunty Ifeoma is the parent and caretaker of her own household.
