Everyone who has ever lived to adulthood understands the difficulty of the transition from childhood. Right now, I am in the prime of the “coming-of-age” transition. The overwhelming pressure from our society that forces adolescence to assimilate social norms is felt by many. Just like our first steps, our first words or whatever is expected in our human stages, the majority is part of it. This may vary by society, religious responsibility, or modern legal conventions; Everyone had to reach this point eventually. Everyone’s majority progression is different. When we are able to read about someone else's transition, it might help us think about our transition. Throughout Purple Hibiscus, we can see Kambili and Jaja's coming-of-age story. When we can analyze another story, we can adapt it to our influences and our characters. At the beginning of the story, Kambili is a terribly shy fifteen-year-old girl, her brother, Jaja, is a seventeen-year-old who is starting to rebel. against his pious, abusive and perfectionist father. The first sentence of the story is the beginning of coming of age. “Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, didn't go to communion and Dad threw his heavenly missal across the room and broke the figurines off the shelf” (PAGE 3). The beginning of their coming-of-age story is followed by an eruption of violence in the first paragraph. Some would say that Kambili's journey to coming of age began under the subtle influence of her aunt Ifeoma, but I believe her transition began with her grandfather's visit.(65) Throughout the story, we didn't I saw her one day thinking about going against her father's word. The two children were in the middle of a paper... eruption of violence. Even though we don't see any abuse in this first chapter, Kambili's fear is palpable. His concern for his brother's well-being signifies not only the punishments they have received in the past, but also that Jaja's behavior is new. It's also a coming-of-age story for Jaja. Kambili is characterized by his lack of voice. She stutters and coughs and can barely rise above a whisper. She and Jaja are taken in and bullied by her father. The two children, as they become adults, must defeat their father. While Jaja's rebellions are more overt – missing communion, asking for the key to his room, taking responsibility for his mother's crime – Kambili's are more personal. She does not reject her faith and compassion, but rather adapts them to her new, more complex worldview. Despite all their trials, Jaja remains Kambili's hero.