Focal points are important components of life. Just as the earth rotates on an axis around the sun, so too does the Church calendar rotate around significant events, including Palm Sunday. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie draws on this focus in her novel Purple Hibiscus. Beginning with a Palm Sunday family dinner, the novel details the events leading up to this moment and concludes with the present: Palm Sunday. In doing so, Adichie uses the symbolism of color and conflict to dramatic effect. The richness and prominence of purples and reds combined with the ever-present religious theme of conflict exhibited throughout the Old and New Testaments. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Dad is a Catholic caught in the Old Testament. His view of the world is inflexible: he kept his eyes closed so tightly that his face contorted into a grimace (4). In the eyes of those who know him he is a perfect model of Christianity, as Father Benedict used to refer to the Pope, Father and Jesus in that order. He used dad to illustrate the gospels (4). Dad; however, he is not a Christian nor has he made the transition to the teachings of the New Testament. His behavior and the way he treats his family are inconsistent with Christian ideals and create a false impression that only those closest to him can see. The symbolism associated with this story told on Palm Sunday amplifies this religious contradiction. Palm Sunday is a key event in the New Testament and represents Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, [where] he greeted the people who ran around him (29). Ironically, this voice represents the beginning of his decline and eventual suffering and death, known as the Passion; when they took him away (291). Actually; however, it is not Jesus who suffers the suffering of the passion, but rather Jaja, the sacrificial lamb for this religious conflict. Just as Christ was sinless and paid for the sins of humanity with his life, so too is Jaja's innocence treated similarly. The tragic ending of the Passion is therefore experienced with the death of Jaja: an innocent person who suffers from the actions of others. Unlike his father, Jaja has moved on to New Testament ideals and beliefs and is therefore able to turn the other cheek by taking the blame for his father's death; a father who himself has never been able to understand true Christian ideals. Jaja's tragedy and suffering are further enhanced through the use of dramatic color. The title Purple Hibiscus is significant in itself. Purple is the traditional color of royalty. It is also the color within the church that denotes sadness and suffering during Lent. The uniqueness of a purple hibiscus is therefore symbolic of the particular suffering to which Jaja subjects himself. On another level, purple is used to describe Beatrice's swollen eye [which] was still the black-purple color of an overripe avocado (10-11). , which symbolizes the needles of pain and suffering (211). Purple, in the Christian church, is the liturgical color of the season of Lent: the time in which Jesus suffers on the cross. These needles of pain can be associated with the nails of the cross. However, purple can also have a noble, regal and powerful meaning: purple plants had begun to produce dormant shoots (9), they had begun to evolve into a more powerful state. Although not mentioned directly, Jaja, the one who ultimately sacrifices himself, can be seen as having this nobility: establishing this power. Red is also a, 42(4), 65-81.