The first pages of the novel expose an explosive scene in which gods are “broken,” revealing a significant spiritual rift between domineering Papa and defiant Jaja. Papa literally throws the word of God at him after Jaja refuses to follow Papa’s religious demands. Papa’s “heavy missal” (3), representing his heavy-handed enforcement of its contents, instead demolishes Mama’s only true possessions (delicate homages to feminine grace), representing both the loss of her sanity and self-worth and male dominance over feminine beauty.

Papa’s piety and powerful position in the community compels him to go to extremes to be the model Christian, based on the white colonial British idea of Catholicism he adopted when young. In carrying out his uncompromising mission, Papa frequently abuses his family, a recurring cycle throughout the story.