In this scene from the anime Black Butler, Earl Ciel Phantomhive is undercover as a peasant in a circus troupe. He attempts to peel potatoes for the troupe’s breakfast, but ends up taking off all of the potato with the skin. This reminds me of Kambili’s first attempt to peel the yams for Aunty Ifeoma. Amaka snapped “You are wasting yam, Kambili!” before Aunty Ifeoma asked Amaka to show her how to peel it. Like Ciel, Kambili was raised in an extremely wealthy family with servants (in her case, Sisi) to prepare food, and thus had no idea how to do it herself when given the task. This also highlights the poverty of the groups in both situations. With the circus troupe growing irritated that Ciel had wasted potatoes and Amaka and Aunty Ifeoma getting exasperated because Kambili had wasted yam. Food is expensive and every bit is precious.
Furthermore, the reasons both Kambili and Ciel are wealthy are similar and relate back to cultural violence. Kambili’s father owns many factories and is a devoted member of the Catholic Church, thereby having high stakes in both economic resources and in the very religion assimilating his people into western culture and annihilating their own. Ciel Phantomhive works directly under Queen Victoria and owns the most well-known and popular toy and candy company in Great Britain, thus having a close relationship with those in power and a monopoly in that aspect of the economy.
