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Summary: Speaking with Our Spirits: Before Palm Sunday—Part 1
“I was at my study desk when Mama came into my room . . ."
Kambili learns that Mama is expecting another child, due in October. As Mama (Sister Beatrice) entertains her women’s prayer group, Kambili tells Jaja about the pregnancy. The radio broadcasts the news of a military coup. Papa, publisher of the pro-democracy newspaper the Standard, and Ade Coker, his editor, write editorials against the new government. Soldiers man roadblocks on the streets of Enugu, but life at home remains unchanged. Kambili and Jaja follow their strict school schedules. The family worships every Sunday at St. Agnes. On Pentecost Sunday, a visiting young priest angers Papa by singing Igbo worship songs. After Mass, Mama feels sick and asks to remain in the car instead of visiting Father Benedict. That afternoon, Kambili and Jaja hear loud thuds coming from their parents’ bedroom. They see Papa hauling Mama downstairs like a sack. They clean blood from the floor. Kevin, the family’s chauffeur, brings Mama home from the hospital. Mama tells Kambili and Jaja that she lost the baby. Then Mama carefully cleans her ceramic figurines. The next Sunday, Papa makes the family stay after Mass to recite novenas so that God will forgive Mama. Kambili does not even wonder why Mama needs forgiveness.
Speaking with Our Spirits: Before Palm Sunday—Part 2
“The words in my textbooks kept turning into blood . . .”
The authorities arrest Ade Coker, and Papa takes on the role of editor. Kambili takes her school exams and comes in second, though she usually comes in first. Papa begins to scold Kambili for losing first place when the phone rings. Papa learns that Ade Coker is out of prison but has been severely tortured. Papa decides his newspaper must go underground. Kevin drives Mama, Kambili, and Jaja to market, where they witness soldiers tearing down stalls and beating people. On the first day of Kambili’s next school term, Papa lectures her, reminding Kambili that God expects perfection. At school, Kambili feels shy and nervous. Other girls think she’s a rich snob because she doesn’t spend time with them after school. However, Kambili can’t hang out with them because she knows Kevin will report any delay to Papa.
Analysis
As the narrative returns to the time before Palm Sunday, more details of Papa’s uncompromising control over his family emerge. Kambili describes the rigid schedule that Papa insists the children adhere to, in which exactly one half hour is allocated to uniform washing. Similarly, Kambili may not stay at school for even a minute too long. Even the appearance of the daily schedule is significant. Each child’s name is written in bold letters at the top of a white sheet of paper, followed by meticulously drawn lines in black ink that dictate every minute of each child’s day. It is institutional and contains no moments of prescribed warmth or joy. When Kambili learns that her mother is pregnant, she wonders what the baby’s schedule will be. Papa controls every decision made in the family as well. When Mama doesn’t feel well due to her pregnancy, she says that she would prefer to wait in the car rather than visit Father Benedict after Mass. But Papa will not allow this, and he makes it clear by asking repeatedly if she is sure wants to stay in the car that it is not an option she will wish to explore. Though it's often a struggle, adherence to Papa’s schedules and demands becomes an easier choice than suffering the punishments for straying outside of his wishes.
Silence is a symbol of Papa’s control over the family and the resulting tension that settles over the household. Kambili and Jaja often speak with their eyes instead of out loud. In one instance, when Kambili and Jaja discuss what they each had for lunch, Jaja says with his eyes that he wishes they still had lunch together. Their silent language is so perfected that Kambili responds out loud, “Me, too.” The siblings also ask each other questions that they already know the answers to in order to stay silent about more difficult topics of conversation. Kambili describes how Papa insists that all activities on Sunday are silent or nearly silent, including family time. Papa’s control over Kambili causes her to struggle to produce words at times, such as when Mother Lucy asks her to recite the pledge at school. Silence also symbolizes tension in the family, as in during the family lunch on Sunday when Papa is displeased with Mama. Kambili describes this silence as hanging over the table like rain clouds. In the Achike household, the absence of sound is a display of the family’s devoted obedience to Papa.
These sections of this chapter also touch on the intertwining of love and pain in the face of Papa’s violence. When Kambili knows that Papa is upset with Mama, she eagerly takes a “love sip” from his cup of tea and equates the sensation of burning her mouth with the feeling of being loved. As Kambili duteously reads her Bible so she can later recite passages to impress her father, she hears him administering a beating to her pregnant mother. Kambili imagines that the thudding sounds are those of an ordinary household, such as an opening and closing door, to protect herself from the fear and pain of what she knows is actually happening. When Papa visits Kambili after taking Mama to the hospital, it is apparent that he’s been crying, as if the necessary act of causing pain to his family is a great emotional burden born out of his love for them. He is then gentle with Kambili, showing his love for her as he rubs her shoulders and hugs her. Kambili perceives his own pain and gentleness as vulnerability, and as he embraces her, she listens to his heart beating softly. Here, Kambili focuses on her father’s humanizing qualities so that she can feel loved by him rather than afraid of him.
