In this post I will be discussing Kambili's complicated relationship with her father. In many instances throughout the first 106 pages of the book, Kambili exhibits symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome. This disorder is often simply defined as growing attached to a captor or abuser to the point of even defending them after long durations of captivity or abuse. Kambili seems to nave been periodically abused by Eugene throughout her whole life, and lives in constant fear of failing to meet his insanely high expectations or not following his incredibly strict rules. She essentially does not have any friends because her father makes her run from class to meet Kevin so that she does not waste any of his time nor get behind on her schedule. Her father permits her and Jaja from getting to know their dying grandfather or expierence anything of their cultures heritage because they are all "pagan."He also does not really let them see their cousins, the closest people to their own age who don't go to their school, because their mother supports their "pagan" grandfather, and won't convert to Catholicism. One would think that all of these restraints on her life and even being beaten or watching her family being beaten would create animosity between Kambili and Eugene. On the contrary, Kambili practically worships her father, craving his love and attention, desiring to make him happy (although that could be self defense), and defending his actions. She even critizies Aunt Ifeoma and her cousins for their failure to see her Papa as "special."
I am interested to learn how this Sockholm Syndromeesque relationship between Kambili and Eugene changes (if at all) as she gets older and after she returns from a week with her comparitively extremely liberal Aunt and cousins without her parents or servants.
Works Cited
"Stockholm Syndrome: The Psychological Mystery of Loving an Abuser, Page 1." CounsellingResourcecom Library RSS. Ed. Dr Greg Mulhauser. N.p., 20 Dec. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. <http://counsellingresource.com/lib/therapy/self-help/stockholm/>.
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