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Summary: Speaking with Our Spirits: Before Palm Sunday—Part 8
“Papa-Nnukwu had woken up before everyone else.”
Papa-Nnukwu tells stories about his village. Amaka begins painting his portrait. Aunty Ifeoma prays for Papa-Nnukwu, and Kambili asks why Our Lady would intercede for a heathen. Early the next morning, Aunty Ifeoma asks Kambili to watch Papa-Nnukwu. Kambili overhears him praying for blessings on his daughter Ifeoma, his son Eugene, and their children. Papa-Nnukwu’s prayer surprises Kambili because Papa only prays for Papa-Nnukwu’s conversion. Amaka continues her portrait project. Father Amadi drops by and talks with Papa-Nnukwu about missionary work. Father Amadi invites Kambili to the football stadium. In the car, he tries to get Kambili to talk about Papa. At the stadium, Father Amadi persuades Kambili to run across the grass and tells her she has good legs for running. A team of boys arrives, and Kambili watches them play. Kambili feels sad that Father Amadi is a priest. Back at the flat, Aunty Ifeoma tells Kambili and Jaja about an angry phone call from Papa. He has heard from a family member in Abba that Papa-Nnukwu is staying at the flat. Kambili knows that she and Jaja are in trouble.
Summary: Speaking with Our Spirits: Before Palm Sunday—Part 9
“Amaka shook me although her movements had already woken me.”
Amaka and Kambili wake up to discover that Papa-Nnukwu has no heartbeat. Amaka screams, and Aunty Ifeoma hurries in. Aunty Ifeoma wails and clutches Papa-Nnukwu. An ambulance takes the body away. Just then, Papa arrives. When Ifeoma tells him that Papa-Nnukwu has just died, Eugene berates her for not calling a priest. Then Papa takes Kambili and Jaja home. Before they depart, Amaka secretly gives Kambili her unfinished portrait of Papa-Nnukwu. Back in Enugu, Kambili notices Mama’s swollen face and black eye. After dinner, Papa summons Kambili upstairs. He makes her stand in a tub of boiling water. Mama cries as she tends to Kambili’s burned feet. The next day, Jaja hobbles into Kambili’s room. She shows him Papa Nnukwu’s portrait, and Jaja shows her some purple hibiscus cuttings from Aunty Ifeoma’s garden. Papa and Ade Coker meet with leaders of the Democracy Coalition, who warn Papa and Ade to be careful. Aunty Ifeoma calls from Nsukka. Jaja reports that he’s planted the hibiscus cuttings, and Kambili thanks Amaka for the painting. Amaka tells Kambili that Papa sent a generous amount of money for Papa-Nnukwu’s funeral. That night, Kambili stays in her room and writes Father Amadi’s name over and over.
Analysis
Kambili’s point of view of religion highlights the contrast between colonialism and traditional ways. Kambili refers to Papa-Nnukwu as a heathen because he is not Christian, which represents a colonialist point of view. Ifeoma corrects her by saying that he is not a heathen, but a traditionalist. Ifeoma pushes Kambili to understand that the two religions are not that different after all. When Kambili observes Papa-Nnukwu in his morning prayers she realizes that Ifeoma is right. When she notices that Papa-Nnukwu smiles as he says his prayers, she makes an important connection between worship and joy, as Kambili’s family does not smile when they say the rosary, nor do they connect worship with feelings of warmth and happiness. It is notable that Papa’s prayer for Papa-Nnukwu to convert to Christianity does not focus on his father’s well-being, while Papa-Nnukwu’s prayer for Papa is for his son to remain prosperous. When Kambili imagines what it’s like to be called into the priesthood, she imagines God’s voice as having a British accent. This shows that the idea of European superiority is deeply intertwined with Kambili’s ideas about religion, though her exposure to traditionalism is expanding her thinking in ways not possible under her father’s roof.
As Kambili spends more time with Ifeoma’s family, her relationship with silence begins to change and she starts to find her voice. When Amaka makes a snide remark to Kambili about her privilege, Ifeoma passionately encourages Kambili to talk back. For the first time, Kambili uses her voice to stand up for herself. Later Kambili learns that Jaja has told Father Amadi about Papa, and Kambili wonders what is wrong with Jaja that he continues to break the family’s code of silence. Though the situation is troubling to Kambili, it also builds on the turning point she is experiencing. When Kambili allows herself to laugh with Father Amadi, she notices that she’s never heard herself laugh before. Kambili is learning by example how to express emotion, but she is also confused about why such expressions are preferable to silence. After Papa-Nnukwu dies, it strikes Kambili as odd that Amaka cries out loud. She realizes that Amaka has never had to learn the art of silent crying as Kambili has. When Kambili and Jaja return home to Papa’s house, the oppressive silence is reintroduced into Kambili and Jaja’s lives. Mama bears the evidence of a recent beating at the hands of Papa, but instead of directly asking Mama what happened to her eye, Kambili asks when she polished the figurines. Moments later, Papa pours boiling water on Kambili’s feet. In suffering the extreme pain of Papa’s punishment, Kambili is startled to hear her own voice screaming and sobbing and apologizing to Papa. Though she suspects that Jaja has suffered the same punishment, she does not ask her mother, and both siblings are silent about the attack as they carefully walk around the house on injured feet. Papa’s abusive actions are an attempt to thwart the progress they have made outside of his home, which he equates with evil and sin.
Papa’s reaction to the punishment he inflicts on his children also highlights his own inner conflict and its source. Before he pours the boiling water over Kambili’s feet, he becomes emotional and tells her that she is precious. He then cries as he commits the act, revealing his own pain in inflicting what he believes is a just punishment for his child’s sin. Papa explains that his actions are all for Kambili’s own good, and the story he tells her afterward illustrates his own conditioning at the hands of religious figures. In telling this story, Papa is somewhat humanized, as it becomes clear that he is behaving in ways that he truly believes to be necessary and holy. He also reveals himself to have once been “imperfect” as he describes a time when he once committed a sin. Kambili is startled by the revelation, though she quickly disconnects from thoughts of her father and instead thinks about the painting of Papa-Nnukwu she has stashed away. Kambili’s unwillingness to think about her father as a child suffering a horrid punishment such as the one she has endured shows that she does not wish to humanize him in her mind. It is a small act of rebellion even in the face of her fear and pain. Though Papa has attempted to make Kambili understand that his abusive acts are unwanted, necessary, and ultimately guided by her own actions, Kambili’s growth in Nsukka cannot be totally undone, and she mentally rejects her father’s emotional explanations for his horrific behavior.
