Purple Hibiscus: List 2

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Kambili and Jaja's life among the elite in Nigeria isn't so easy under the thumb of their oppressive father. When the country becomes mired in political turmoil, they are sent to stay with their aunt, where they learn a different way of life.

This list covers pages 53–106 in the 2012 Algonquin edition.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5

Here is a link to our lists for Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
40 words 1864 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. mercy
    something for which to be thankful
    “Thank you, Lord, for journey mercies,” Papa said as he drove into the compound, crossing himself.
  2. impersonal
    not relating to or responsive to individuals
    The wide passages made our house feel like a hotel, as did the impersonal smell of doors kept locked most of the year, of unused bathrooms and kitchens and toilets, of uninhabited rooms.
  3. pagan
    relating to a polytheistic, pre-Christian religion
    So when Papa finally decided to, after extensive talks with the parish priest and insisting that all pagan undertones be removed from his title-taking ceremony, it was like a mini New Yam festival.
  4. intercede
    act between parties with a view to reconciling differences
    But when he said, “We will now pray to the spirit in our own words, for the spirit intercedes for us in accordance with His will,” the silence was broken.
  5. discordant
    lacking in harmony
    Our voices sounded loud, discordant.
  6. righteousness
    the quality of adhering to moral principles
    Finally, for twenty minutes, Papa prayed for our protection from ungodly people and forces, for Nigeria and the Godless men ruling it, and for us to continue to grow in righteousness.
  7. conversion
    a change of religion
    Finally, he prayed for the conversion of our Papa-Nnukwu, so that Papa-Nnukwu would be saved from hell.
  8. shrine
    a place of worship associated with something sacred
    Papa-Nnukwu had told the umunna how Papa had offered to build him a house, buy him a car, and hire him a driver, as long as he converted and threw away the chi in the thatch shrine in his yard.
  9. heathen
    a person who does not acknowledge your god
    “I don’t like to send you to the home of a heathen, but God will protect you,” Papa said.
  10. decree
    issue an authoritative order
    Papa-Nnukwu had never set foot in it, because when Papa had decreed that heathens were not allowed in his compound, he had not made an exception for his father.
  11. inflection
    the patterns of stress and intonation in a language
    His lower lip quivered, as did his voice, and sometimes I understood him a moment or two after he spoke because his dialect was ancient; his speech had none of the anglicized inflections that ours had.
  12. ancestor
    someone from whom you are descended
    I know your father will not let you eat here because I offer my food to our ancestors, but soft drinks also?
  13. paltry
    contemptibly small in amount or size
    If Papa-Nnukwu minded that his son sent him impersonal, paltry amounts of money through a driver, he didn’t show it.
  14. desecrate
    remove the sacredness from a person or an object
    “What did you do there? Did you eat food sacrificed to idols? Did you desecrate your Christian tongue?”
  15. idol
    a material effigy that is worshipped
    What is a worshiper of idols doing in my house?
  16. remnant
    a small part remaining after the main part no longer exists
    When I asked, Papa said it was the remnants of ungodly traditions, the idea that it was the family and not the man alone that married a wife, and later Mama whispered, although we were alone in my room, “I am her wife, too, because I am your father’s wife. It shows that she accepts me.”
  17. homestead
    the house and adjacent grounds occupied by a family
    But it is good that the children go, especially the boys. They need to know their father’s homestead and the members of their father’s umunna.
  18. stature
    high level of respect gained by impressive achievement
    Did our own umunna not tell Eugene to take another wife because a man of his stature cannot have just two children?
  19. tyrant
    a cruel and oppressive dictator
    Look what this military tyrant is doing to our country.
  20. irritated
    aroused to impatience or anger
    “Eugene, let the children come out with us!” Aunty Ifeoma sounded irritated; her voice was slightly raised.
  21. presumptuous
    going beyond what is appropriate, permitted, or courteous
    Their eyes were politely surprised, to show that they were not presumptuous, that they had not expected money.
  22. forebear
    a person from whom you are descended
    When she barged into the dining room upstairs, I imagined a proud ancient forebear, walking miles to fetch water in homemade clay pots, nursing babies until they walked and talked, fighting wars with machetes sharpened on sun-warmed stone.
  23. traditionalist
    one who adheres to time-honored views
    “Your Papa-Nnukwu is not a pagan, Kambili, he is a traditionalist,” Aunty Ifeoma said.
  24. masquerade
    a party of guests wearing costumes and disguises
    Papa had driven us past the crowds at Ezi Icheke once, some years ago, and he muttered about ignorant people participating in the ritual of pagan masquerades.
  25. defer
    yield to another's wish or opinion
    It was sinful, deferring to a heathen masquerade. But at least I had looked at it very briefly, so maybe it would technically not be deferring to a heathen masquerade.
  26. eerie
    inspiring a feeling of fear; strange and frightening
    It was eerie, watching it, and I thought then of chairs running, their four legs knocking together, of water being held in a basket, of human forms climbing out of ant holes.
  27. initiation
    a formal entry into an organization or position or office
    I suddenly wished, for him, that he had done the ima mmuo, the initiation into the spirit world.
  28. threadbare
    thin and tattered with age
    They all looked alike, in ill-fitting blouses, threadbare wrappers, and scarves tied around their heads.
  29. stutter
    speak haltingly
    I went over to join them, starting to pace my breathing so that I would not stutter.
  30. sacrifice
    the act of killing in order to appease a deity
    We never visited him again, though, because Papa said that although the Igwe had converted, he still let his pagan relatives carry out sacrifices in his palace.
  31. discernment
    the ability to understand and discriminate between relations
    But Papa yanked my ear in the car and said I did not have the spirit of discernment: the bishop was a man of God; the Igwe was merely a traditional ruler.
  32. wither
    lose freshness, vigor, or vitality
    Will your hands wither away if you pick up the phone one day and call your sister, gbo?
  33. apparition
    the appearance of a ghostlike figure
    “Well, the church has not verified the authenticity of the apparitions,” Papa said, staring thoughtfully at his plate.
  34. expose
    disclose to view as by removing a cover
    Once, Papa had hugged me proudly, kissed my forehead, because Father Benedict told him that my hair was always properly covered for Mass, that I was not like the other young girls in church who let some of their hair show, as if they did not know that exposing your hair in church was ungodly.
  35. mandate
    assign under an official instruction or command
    The Eucharist fast mandated that the faithful not eat solid food an hour before Mass.
  36. errand
    a short trip taken in the performance of a necessary task
    “Has the devil asked you all to go on errands for him?”
  37. extort
    obtain by coercion or intimidation
    Papa was talking about the policemen, about how they set up the roadblocks in wooded parts, even if it was dangerous for motorists, just so that they could use the bushes to hide the money they extorted from travelers.
  38. priority
    status established in order of importance or urgency
    That was the problem with our people, Papa told us, our priorities were wrong; we cared too much about huge church buildings and mighty statues.
  39. ritual
    the prescribed procedure for conducting religious ceremonies
    You understand that it is wrong to take joy in pagan rituals, because it breaks the first commandment. Pagan rituals are misinformed superstition, and they are the gateway to Hell.
  40. contrition
    sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation
    While I recited the Act of Contrition, Father Benedict murmured blessings and made the sign of the cross.
Created on Tue Jan 03 17:17:11 EST 2017 (updated Mon Oct 01 16:09:29 EDT 2018)

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