Purple Hibiscus and theme of moderation as a metaphor in the evolution of contemporary Nigerian fiction

Society and Art have variegated correlative relations in that the artist is, first and foremost, a member of a particular society. As such, his/her creative works are in the main influenced by the events of his/her immediate society or those of the societies that border the artist’s. Consequently, the Nigerian society has undergone different developmental stages, and in each era the fiction of the period reflects the dominant incidences of the period used in the work, no doubt, from the artist’s perception. Thus, throughout the development of the Nigerian society and the accompanying metamorphoses of its fiction, moderation has assumed metaphorical dimensions due to the fact that at every point two divergent views/forces are at “war” (and by decipherable African thought of obtaining peace through compromise) only a middle course can ensure peaceful co-existence. Hence, amidst the gargantuan religious strife in the contemporary Nigerian society Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie seems to have a solution with the suggestion of moderation in her debut narrative, Purple Hibiscus. This paper therefore, uses this novel of Adichie’s as a paradigm for the study of the exalted level to which artists have advanced moderation as a metaphor for the advancement of every society. The myriad vexing religious issues of the Nigerian society Adichie so aptly captures in Purple Hibiscus therefore, receive a treatment that one considers a model which is relevant for any developing society desirous of unity in diversity. null