PH response

When I was reading Purple Hibiscus, I kept noticing Kambili's lack of social skills and her craving for her father's validation. At school, Kambili was seen as an outsider and "bigger than everyone else". She was seen as this because she talked very little and always ran from school to the car. She does this because her dad will hit her if she makes the driver wait. Her father's potential abuse is making her social skills decline, and is making her not have any friends.

With this said, Kambili still wants her fathers attention, and it looks like she feels love towards him. I find this so strange because she knows that he beats her mom, and we know that he beats her sometimes. Several times throughout the book she says things like "I wish I had said that first", or "I knew it would make Papa happy that I said that". She defends him often, and acts like he's there when he's not. She probably does this because she thinks that it will maake him nicer or not want to abuse them.