Kambili

I love Kambili's character. She is so real and I feel like I know exactly how she thinks and behaves. It is so easy for me to become Kambili and feel her emotions. I can actually feel her tension and her almost hope. I

was so happy for her when she reclaimed her place in the front of the class. I understand her desperate need to feel loved by her father, to make him proud. The way that Adichie created her main character is just beautiful, I love Kambili. I love her quiet mouth and loud thoughts. It is so interesting how other people view her as snobbish when, really, she just doesn't know how to talk to people. She is to scared, to quiet. "That night, I dreamed that I was laughing, but it did not sound like my laughter, although I was not sure what my laughter sounded like," (88). It is so sad that Kambili doesn't know what laughter is, but watching her discover the world is so interesting. She watches so much, and rarely interacts. However, her interactions with Amaka are interesting to watch. Amaka is very different from Kambili, opinionated, often laughing, and pig-headed. Amaka assumes Kambili watches TV so much she is bored with it while Kambili sits and ponders the idea of

watching TV. Actually, Amaka assumes a lot about Kambili because she misinterprets Kambili's silence for snobbery. Kambili's thoughts while she explores the world of her cousins in Nsukka are wonderful. Here is a link to some Fela Song's and here is a link to a song by Osadebe and there should be some more of his songs listed when you open the link.

The person I chose to compare Kambili to is Eliot from Jhumpa Lahiri's short story "Mrs. Sen's." I think these two quiet characters are similar in the way that they watch the world, seeing everything, and thinking. The people around them don't notice them overly much, just courtesy acknowledgement. I think both of these characters are beautifully written and almost understated.