Half of a Yellow Sun

Chimamanda Adichie’s second book, Half of a Yellow Sun, is set during the Nigerian Civil War that tragically occurred in her home country during the 1960s. The story masterfully revolves around an intricate web of shifting viewpoints, each of which centers around one of the novel’s five main characters: Ugwu, Odenigbo, Olanna, Kainene, and Richard. All of these characters find themselves affiliated with the Biafran rebels of the war, and this affiliation eventually has consequences for all of the novel’s principal characters.

Ugwu becomes a houseboy for the Nsukka University professor Odenigbo and serves him faithfully as the teacher builds a family. Odenigbo marries Olanna, and the two eventually have a child whom they simply refer to as “Baby.” Olanna’s sister Kainene falls in love with Richard Churchill, a British writer who is sincerely interested in Nigerian culture and has come to the nation to write a book about its ancient art.

As Biafra’s secession from Nigeria is announced, the five main characters of the novel are initially extremely optimistic regarding their new nation’s future. But after Nigeria declares war on Biafra to reclaim its former territory, it steadily becomes apparent that the rebels have bitten off more than they can chew. Massacres of innocent civilians begin to amount increasingly on both sides of the conflict, and starvation and malnutrition ensue on a massive scale.

As time goes on, the Biafrans fare worse and worse during the conflict, and the character’s personal lives do too: Odenigbo cheats on Olanna with Amala, and Olanna cheats on Odenigbo with Richard, which consequently means that Richard cheats on Kainene as well. Ugwu is kidnapped by Biafran soldiers and forced into the military, where he ultimately participates in murder and rape. The tensions amongst themselves eventually begin to heal, and things become more and more normal even as the Biafrans are obviously losing the war. 

The war comes to a close, and the main characters attempt to come to grips with Biafra’s failure. Kainene visits Nigeria one day to collect supplies, and she never returns from the trip. Richard searches for her frantically, but he eventually comes to the conclusion that he will never see her again. Odenigbo attempts to pick of the pieces of his former academic life, while Olanna consoles herself by taking solace in the fact that she will see her sister in the next life. In conclusion, Ugwu writes The World Was Silent When We Died, a textual account of Biafran experiences during the war.