Okonkwo and Eugene

Based on the opening sentence of Purple Hibiscus and the fact that a lot of people have read Things Fall Apart, I'm going to assume that Adichie has read Things Fall Apart. She was likely very conscious of the book as she was writing Purple Hibiscus because it is a very famous work of Nigerian literature. Therefore, I can conclude that the similarities between Okonkwo and Eugene (aka Papa) are not simply coincidental.

Both Eugene and Okonkwo are powerful men in their respective societies, both are very controlling of their family, both are violent towards their wives, both despise their fathers, and both are threatened by a group changing their way of life. Perhaps Adichie is creating a character similar to Okwonko to deliver a similar message about valuing people over your image. I wouldn't be surprised to see Eugene meet as tragic an end as Okonkwo.