Quotes: Speaking With Our Spirits (pt.1)

Question 1

there was so much that she [Mama] did not mind.

Answer 1

A display of Mama’s submissive behaviour.

Question 2

“Thanks be to God.” It was what Jaja and I said, what Papa expected us to say, when good things happened.

Answer 2

It was how Papa mended his children’s beliefs into his own- staunch Christianity.

Question 3

She [Mama] spoke the way a bird eats, in small amounts.

Answer 3

A display of Mama’s submissive behaviour.

Question 4

Papa deserved praise for not choosing to have more sons with another woman, of course, for not choosing to take a second wife.

Answer 4

A show of the way society worked in 1960’s Nigeria.

Question 5

I wished that Mama would not compare him with Mr. Ezendu, with anybody; it lowered him, soiled him.

Answer 5

Kambili’s respect for Papa was a little too much and a little too blind and toxic; it was as though Papa was her God.

Question 6

When I thought of affection between them, I thought of them exchanging the sign of peace at Mass, the way Papa would hold her tenderly in his arms after they had clasped hands.

Answer 6

Papa usually never showed affection towards Mama and Kambili was used to him abusing her.

Question 7

Mama never used plastic cutlery, no matter how big the group was.

Answer 7

The only time Mama was allowed to socialise with other women, it was with the members of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal prayer group, and it almost seemed that she wanted to buy them with the riches she owned.

Question 8

We did that often, asking each other questions whose answers we already knew. Perhaps it was so that we would not ask the other questions, the ones whose answers we did not want to know.

Answer 8

There were tense situations at home but the Achike siblings loved each other fiercely.

Question 9

I knew that Jaja meant [protect him] from Papa, but I did not say anything about protecting the baby.

Answer 9

Jaja did not want the to-be-born child to face all Kambili and him faced - both physical and mentally. However, since Kambili was loyal to Papa she did not even think he was wrong and thus felt there was no need to protect the child.

Question 10

I wondered when Papa would draw up a schedule for the baby, my new brother, if he would do it right after the baby was born or wait until he was a toddler.

Answer 10

Papa was so strict that Kambili did not even think about what normal children think about new born babies but only thought about the way things had always been with her.

Question 11

Papa smiled, and I wished I had said that before Jaja had.

Answer 11

Kambili desperately seemed Papa’s approval and was even willing to compete with her brother for it.

Question 12

Then he [Papa] reached out and held my hand, and I felt as though my mouth were full of melting sugar.

Answer 12

All that Kambili did was to get her father’s approval and it seemed as though she only did and said things to please him.

Question 13

Our branches never looked as bright as the demonstrators’

Question 14

He looked sideways to see if Jaja and I were singing [the Igbo prayer song] and nodded approvingly when he saw our sealed lips.

Answer 14

Papa’s resentment towards the Igbo culture was intense and he would get violent if they did as so much as smile at something Igbo.

Question 15

“I asked if you were sure you wanted to stay in the car.”

Answer 15

Papa’s control over Mama was horribly heartless and painful. Even when Mama wasn’t feeling well as she was pregnant, she had to put on a face that Papa would approve of.

Question 16

I would hold up my dress hems so Mama could throw up into it, so we wouldn’t make a big mess in Father Benedict’s house.

Answer 16

The Achike siblings were so scared of causing the littlest trouble to anyone because they did not feel SAFE.

Question 17

“Let me pour your tea,” she offered, although she never served Papa’s tea.

Answer 17

As is she needed to apologise for feeling sick, she looked for even a little hint of forgiveness or pity from Papa.

Question 17

“Let me pour your tea,” she offered, although she never served Papa’s tea.

Answer 17

As is she needed to apologise for feeling sick, she looked for even a little hint of forgiveness or pity from Papa.

Question 18

We cleaned up the trickle of blood, which trailed away as if someone had carried a leaking jar of red watercolor all the way downstairs. Jaja scrubbed while I wiped.

Answer 18

Kambili and Jaja were so used to their mother being abused by their father and them leaving a trail of Mama’s blood that it wasn’t surprising that they were to clean it. Surely, if it wasn’t clean enough, Papa would hurt them right?

Question 19

“Nne, this is your study time. Go upstairs,” she [Mama] said.

Answer 19

Even though Mama had just gone through a miscarriage, she was afraid to ask help from her daughter during her study time. Papa would get mad if she wasn’t going according to her timetable.

Question 20

The black type
blurred, the letters swimming into one another, and then changed to a bright
red, the red of fresh blood. The blood was watery, flowing from Mama,
flowing from my eyes.

Answer 20

Kambili’s grief for her dead unborn sibling is overwhelming, but she has to study, study, study. to make Papa proud, to have his approval.

Question 21

Papa said we would recite sixteen different novenas. For Mama’s forgiveness. And on Sunday, the first Sunday of Trinity, we stayed
back after Mass and started the novenas. Father Benedict sprinkled us with holy water. Some of the holy water landed on my lips, and I tasted the stale saltiness of it as we prayed. If Papa felt Jaja or me beginning to drift off at the
thirteenth recitation of the Plea to St. Jude, he suggested we start all over. We had to get it right. I did not think, I did not even think to think, what Mama needed to be forgiven for.

Answer 21

Mama had just had a miscarriage, a thing she could not control, something that is not in her hands. But still. But still, Papa, the cruel, staunch Christian, felt the need to apologize to the Lord for the loss of HIS child, instead of taking care of Mama, who was so hurt, so vulnerable, because even though many of her children had died before, she had hope this time. But still. Papa even made Jaja and Kambili say the prayers, when both of them were desperate to support her, to care for her. But still.

Question 22

The words in my textbooks kept turning into blood each time I read
them.

Answer 22

Kambili is still grieving the loss of her dead sibling, but she has no emotional support whatsoever.

Question 23

I needed him to touch the back of my neck and tell me that I was fulfilling God’s purpose. I needed him to hug me close and say that to whom much is given, much is also expected. I needed him to smile at me, in that way that lit
up his face, that warmed something inside me. But I had come second. I was stained by failure.

Answer 23

Kamibili was so anxious about just coming second in her class, the fear of Papa’s disapproval was so intense, she was literally scared to be second, something most normal parents are proud of.

Question 24

It was the only time she [Mama] sang aloud at home.

Answer 24

Mama was strictly under the control of Papa that she never sang at home.

Question 25

“You came second because you chose to.” [Papa said]

Answer 25

For Papa, Kambili coming in second, which is a really good thing that most people are proud of, is a curse. She did it by her choice. It was her fault. And as always, Papa the Omniscient, knew he had to fix this.

Question 26

I thought about the woman lying in the dirt as we drove home [from the market]. I had not seen her face, but I felt that I knew her, that I had always known her. I wished I could have gone over and helped her up, cleaned the red mud from her wrapper.

Answer 26

Kambili is still a young, naïve girl who doesn’t know the consequences of her actions. Whereas, Mama and Jaja, both rushed past the horrid scene.

Question 27

Papa changed his accent when he spoke, sounding British, just as he did when he spoke to Father Benedict.

Answer 27

An example of how Papa tried so hard to not follow his Igbo culture or even let people think he was born into it.

Question 28

“The girl has one head, too, she does not have two. So why did you let her come first?”/You have to do something with all these privileges. Because God has given you much, he expects much from you. He expects perfection.

Answer 28

Papa needs perfection from his children, as though he are machines who must obey all his rules and fulfil all his exceptions. If they fail to do just one thing, they are the biggest disappointments doing nothing of the privileges they get.

Question 29

I cleared my throat, willed the words [of Nigeria’s pledge] to come. I knew them, thought them. But they would not come. The sweat was warm and wet under my arms.

Answer 29

A clear display of Kambili’s social anxiety.

Question 30

I wanted to say thank you [to Ezinne] for not laughing at me and calling me a “backyard snob” the way the rest of the girls did.

Answer 30

The girls in Kambili’s class always mistook her severe social anxiety as a person who is mean and a snob and refuses to socialise with others because she is rich.

Question 31

Once, Kevin told Papa I took a few minutes longer, and Papa slapped my left and right cheeks at the same time, so his huge palms left parallel marks on my face and ringing in my ears for days.

Answer 31

What other girls do not know about Kambili’s dark household, they mistake as her being too proud to talk to anyone else. No one knows she is obliged to do so.

Question 32

After every test, a tough lump like poorly made fufu formed in my throat and stayed there until our exercise books came back.

Answer 32

Kambili’s anxiety increased significantly, more than it should, during exams especially after last term. Not a good thing for a child.

Question 33

I often wondered why Sister Veronica needed to understand it, when it was simply the way things were done.

Answer 33

Kamibili, living in the way she does, finds the word “why” amusing. As if it’s not important, as if curiosity is a bad trait to have.

Question 34

“They [Jaja and Kambili] are always so quiet,” he [Ade Coker] said, turning to Papa. “So quiet.”

Question 35

“Imagine what the Standard would be if we were all quiet.” It was a joke. Ade Coker was laughing; so was his wife, Yewanda. But Papa did not laugh.

Answer 35

The whole purpose of the Standard was speaking up for equal rights. That’s why Papa was so proud of it. But was Papa doing the same in his own house?

Question 36

Papa liked it when the villagers [of Abba] made an effort to speak English around him. He said it showed they had good sense.

Answer 36

Papa was like a Catholic-nazi, trying his very best to turn everyone around him into a Christian. Scary, if you think about it for long enough.

Question 37

Finally, he prayed for the conversion of our Papa-Nnukwu, so that Papa-Nnukwu would be saved from hell. Papa spent some time describing hell, as if God did not know that the flames were eternal and raging and fierce./ “Kambili and Jaja, you will go this afternoon to your grandfather’s house and greet him. Kevin will take you. Remember, don’t touch any food, don’t drink anything. And, as usual, you will stay not longer than fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes.”

Answer 37

Papa’s hatred for Papa-Nnukwu and his Godless culture was so intense that he installed a fear in his entire family about him and his culture being dangerous.

Question 38

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.

Question 39

I had examined him that day, too, looking away when his eyes met mine, for signs of difference, of Godlessness. I didn’t see any, but I was sure they were there somewhere. They had to be.