Have you got any questions about this topic? Or do you have any requests for future video topics or skills? Please put them in the Comments below. It's always great to hear from you and find out what aspects of English you're finding difficult so I can try and help. 😎
Hi Maggie. Yes, I think so too. The lipstick is symbolic in the novel. It represents femininity, becoming a woman and sexuality. Like so much of what happens when Kambili visits Aunt Ifeoma and her family, it is an awakening and part of her development as a character growing up. Kambili has lived in a strict, repressive environment in Enugu under the abusive and conservative upbringing from Papa Eugene. She tries it on, "I took Amaka's lipstick from the top of the dresser and ran it over my lips. It looked strange, not as glamorous as it did on Amaka; it did not even have the same bronze shimmer. I wiped it off. My lips looked pale, a dour brown. I ran the lipstick over my lips again, and my hands shook." The fact her hand shook shows how Kambili is afraid of doing something that might make Papa Eugene angry. But the fact that she has the courage to try the lipstick shows that she is beginning to grow up and perhaps move away from her strict and restrictive upbringing. Remember the novel opens with Jaja's defiance of Papa in refusing to attend Church. The novel, in many ways, is a Bildungsroman about the growth of Kambili, but also about how the family escape a cycle of abuse and violence from Papa Eugene. Sorry for a long response! Hope it helps.
Have you got any questions about this topic? Or do you have any requests for future video topics or skills? Please put them in the Comments below. It's always great to hear from you and find out what aspects of English you're finding difficult so I can try and help. 😎
To all of you taking exams soon: good luck! Let me know if you have any specific questions. 😀
Could the red also be associated with the red lipstick that Kambili always admires on Amaka and Aunty Ifeoma but she is too scared to try on?
Hi Maggie. Yes, I think so too. The lipstick is symbolic in the novel. It represents femininity, becoming a woman and sexuality. Like so much of what happens when Kambili visits Aunt Ifeoma and her family, it is an awakening and part of her development as a character growing up. Kambili has lived in a strict, repressive environment in Enugu under the abusive and conservative upbringing from Papa Eugene. She tries it on, "I took Amaka's lipstick from the top of the dresser and ran it over my lips. It looked strange, not as glamorous as it did on Amaka; it did not even have the same bronze shimmer. I wiped it off. My lips looked pale, a dour brown. I ran the lipstick over my lips again, and my hands shook." The fact her hand shook shows how Kambili is afraid of doing something that might make Papa Eugene angry. But the fact that she has the courage to try the lipstick shows that she is beginning to grow up and perhaps move away from her strict and restrictive upbringing. Remember the novel opens with Jaja's defiance of Papa in refusing to attend Church. The novel, in many ways, is a Bildungsroman about the growth of Kambili, but also about how the family escape a cycle of abuse and violence from Papa Eugene. Sorry for a long response! Hope it helps.