1. How would you describe the atmosphere in Kambili’s home? What emotions are prevalent in the household? How do you compare it to Aunty Ifeoma’s home in Nuskka?

2. Amaka says, "Uncle Eugene is not a bad man, really … People have problems, people make mistakes" [p. 251] Why does Eugene treat his wife and children the way he does? How can his generosity and political integrity coexist with his violence and religious intolerance?

3. Eugene is described as being too much the product of colonialism, in your opinion, what does that phrase mean? Do you think it’s a true description of Eugene?

4. Compare the characters of Aunty Ifeoma and Eugene. In what ways are they different from each other? What similarities can you see between them? How do they differ in their religious views? Who do you think is happier?

5. Eugene boasts that his Kambili and Jaja are "not like those loud children people are raising these days, with no home training and no fear of God"; to which Ade Coker replies: "Imagine what the Standard would be if we were all quiet" [p. 58]. What does Ade Coker think of quiet obedience? Do you think he finds it virtuous?

6. How do the characters of Kambili and Jaja evolve throughout the novel? What events or experiences contribute most significantly to their growth?

7. Why does Kambili's mother keep returning to her husband, even after he beats her so badly that he causes a miscarriage, and even after he nearly kills Kambili?

8. What kind of man is Papa-Nnukwu? Why has his son disowned him so completely?

9. How is Father Amadi different to missionaries that Eugene and Aunty Ifeoma encountered when they were young?

10. What do you think of the relationship between Kambili and Father Amadi?

11. How did you feel about the end of Eugene? Did you see it coming? Do you think he deserved what happened to him?

12. Why does Jaja take the blame for what happens at the end of the novel?

13. After Aunty Ifeoma moves her family to the United States, Amaka writes, "there has never been a power outage and hot water runs from a tap, but we don't laugh anymore . . . because we no longer have the time to laugh, because we don't even see one another" [p. 301] What picture does this passage paint about the family’s experience in the United States?

14. The story is set against the backdrop of political instability in Nigeria. How does this affect the events of the novel? And how does it affect your reading of the book?

15. "Jaja's defiance seemed to me now like Aunty Ifeoma's experimental purple hibiscus: rare, fragrant with the undertones of freedom, a different kind of freedom from the one the crowds waving green leaves chanted at Government Square after the coup. A freedom to be, to do." What do you think the purple hibiscus symbolize?