Half of a Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun is a 2006 novel by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It became instantly successful after its publication; in the United States and Nigeria, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. Half of a Yellow Sun won the Women's Prize for Fiction a year after its release. The plot and characters are fictional, and loosely based on Adichie's observations of her father's stories about the Nigerian Civil War and the aftermath, and the family visits to her hometown of Abba, Anambra State, when she was thirteen.
The story, which is set in Nigeria in the 1960s, centers on Ugwu, who left his village to become a houseboy for a revolutionary and professor Odenigbo. Odenigbo loves Olanna, the daughter of a rich Nigerian man. The Nigerian government is overthrown in a coup d'etat, and the Hausas from the Northern region accuses the Igbos from the Eastern region. Another coup emerges and many soldiers from the Igbo tribe are killed.
Despite dealing with the serious issues of colonialism, and racial inequality, the novel is renowned for its depiction of the war. As a Bildungsroman, the primary themes of Half of a Yellow Sun involve loyalty, betrayal and war. Scholars have noted that Adichie also uses a love story that includes people from various regions and social classes of Nigeria, and how the war and encounters with refugees changed them, hence, addressed the issue of class and gender roles in a contemporary Nigerian society. Despite its themes, Half of a Yellow Sun was banned in some American school districts of Michigan, Florida, and Utah, citing its sexual and violent imagery.
Reaction to the novel varied widely upon publication. Despite the number of copies sold and its widespread use in education, literary analysis generally praised the novel's depictions of the Biafran War and the relationships between the characters but disagreed on the effectiveness of the narrative's pace. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 2013 by director Biyi Bandele, and produced by Gail Egan and British film and television producer Andrea Calderwood.
Born in 1977, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie grew up in Nsukka, Enugu State, which was the central setting of the novel. She attended the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, and then traveled to the United States. She studied at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and would later transfer to Eastern Connecticut State University. While attending the university, she wrote for the campus literary magazine. She also wrote short stories and other works about her experience in the US. After the success of her first novel Purple Hibiscus, she began writing the second, and it took her four years to finish the manuscript for Half of a Yellow Sun.
According to Otosirieze Obi-Young, writing Half of a Yellow Sun was a personal journey for Adichie; she lost both her maternal and paternal grandfathers during the war. In a post story section of the book entitled "The Story behind the Book", she wrote:
Adichie used her parents and relatives to form the "skeleton" of the novel although she made personal researches, but didn't use most of them. The novel's first draft was full of political activities and events, and she cut and re-wrote the story; rearranged sentences from subtle changes for example, the distance between towns, the presence of a beach in Portharcourt and a train station in Nsukka. In a 2013 interview, she tells Ellah Allfrey that she wants people to read her book and come away thinking what it means to be human.
The novel takes place in Nigeria prior to and during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–70). The effect of the war is shown through the relationships of five people's lives including the twin daughters of an influential businessman, a professor, a British expat, and a Nigerian houseboy. After Biafra's declaration of secession, the lives of the main characters drastically change and are torn apart by the brutality of the civil war and decisions in their personal lives.
The book jumps between events that took place during the early and late 1960s, when the war took place, and extends until the end of the war. In the early 1960s, the main characters are introduced: Ugwu, a 13-year-old village boy who moves in with Odenigbo, to work as his houseboy. Odenigbo frequently entertains intellectuals to discuss the political turmoil in Nigeria. Life changes for Ugwu when Odenigbo's girlfriend, Olanna, moves in with them. Ugwu forms a strong bond with both of them, and is a very loyal houseboy. Olanna has a twin sister, Kainene, a woman with a dry sense of humor, tired by the pompous company she runs for her father. Her lover Richard is an English writer who goes to Nigeria to explore Igbo-Ukwu art.
Jumping four years ahead, trouble is brewing between the Hausa and the Igbo people and hundreds of people die in massacres, including Olanna's beloved auntie and uncle. A new republic, called Biafra, is created by the Igbo. As a result of the conflict, Olanna, Odenigbo, their young daughter, whom they refer to only as "Baby", and Ugwu are forced to flee Nsukka, which is the university town and the major intellectual hub of the new nation. They finally end up in the refugee town of Umuahia, where they suffer and struggle due to food shortages, the constant air raids and the environment of paranoia. There are also allusions to a conflict between Olanna and Kainene, Richard and Kainene and between Olanna and Odenigbo.
When the novel jumps back to the early 1960s, we learn that Odenigbo has slept with a village girl, Amala, who then has his baby. Olanna is furious at his betrayal, and sleeps with Richard in a moment of liberation. She goes back to Odenigbo and when they later learn that Amala refused to keep her newborn daughter, Olanna decides that they would keep her.
During the war, Olanna, Odenigbo, Baby, and Ugwu live with Kainene and Richard, where Kainene was running a refugee camp. Their situation is hopeless, as they have no food nor medicine. Kainene decides to trade across enemy lines, but does not return, even after the end of the war a few weeks later. The book ends ambiguously, with the reader not knowing if Kainene lives.
The Nigerian Civil War broke out due to political and ethnic struggles, partly caused by the numerous attempts of the southeastern provinces of Nigeria to secede and form the Republic of Biafra. Political conflict between the Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa and Fulani people erupted into two deadly military coups. The Igbo tried to break away from Nigeria to become the Republic of Biafra, but were met with little support. From 1968 onward, the war fell into a form of deadlock, with Nigerian forces unable to make significant advances into the remaining areas of Biafran control. The Nigerian government cut off humanitarian aid to Biafra, resulting in hundreds of thousands of civilians dying from starvation and disease. Many lives and resources were lost during the war, including Adichie's grandfathers; and even today there are still tensions between the different ethnic and religious groups of Nigeria.
Half of a Yellow Sun centres on the war, and Adichie has said that important for her research was Buchi Emecheta's 1982 novel Destination Biafra. Adichie grew up in the aftermath the war: "The need to write about it came from growing up in its shadow. This thing that I didn't quite understand was my legacy. It hovered over everything." She has stated she believes that many of the issues that caused the war remain today. She further commented that the war is talked about "in uninformed and unimaginative ways", and that the war is as important to the Igbo people her book features today as it was then. Because none of the major political events were changed in the book, Adichie said that the book contained "emotional truth", and that the book showed the war had a significant impact upon the people of Nigeria.
The social gatherings at Odenigbo's house are full of debates on Africa's political future. Here, the usefulness of various forms of African governance are discussed amongst the Nigerian intelligentsia. One particularly noteworthy debate involves Odenigbo defending the tribe as the ideal unit for African, as other characters stress the need for pan-Africanism or nationalism. He is quoted as proclaiming: "the only authentic identity for the African is the tribe...I am Nigerian because a white man created Nigeria and gave me that identity. I am black because the white man constructed black to be as different as possible from his white. But I was Igbo before the white man came."
Although there is a clear reference to Western influence in the Biafran War, a more subtle examination is found in Richard's character. Richard, although with good intentions, tries too hard to be part of first Nigeria, and later Biafra. His fascination with the culture and his wish to be part of Biafra leads to him speaking for Biafrans by attempting to write two novels, one about the art, and the second one about the Biafran war. Richard is unable to complete either, and concludes that these are not his stories to tell. However, he is effective when he writes about the war for the Western press, which actually helps Biafra's cause. Adichie herself has said in an interview, that "maybe [Richard's character] is my subtle way of slipping in my politics that maybe it's time that Africans wrote about Africa."
Many of the main characters in Half of a Yellow Sun are professors, including Olanna and Odenigbo. Odenigbo regularly hosts fellow professors from Nsukka University for political discussions on the weekends. Over the course of the novel, Half of a Yellow Sun seems to criticize both these professors and their opinions. It does this by juxtaposing the high-minded political opinions of Odenigbo and his companions from the "Early Sixties" sections against the political realities of the "Late Sixties" sections. The novel also uses the same professors from the "Early Sixties" sections and puts them in the "Late Sixties" sections. Also, Kainene's business mind helps her successfully run a refugee camp, whereas Olanna and Odenigbo seem ineffectual. Adichie seems to emphasize the reality of action over the ephemeral nature of opinion.
Half of a Yellow Sun is heavily critical of the Western media's coverage of the Biafran War. The rule of Western journalism is obvious when Richard meets with the foreign journalists: "Richard exhaled. It was like somebody sprinkling pepper on his wound: Thousands of Biafrans were dead, and this man wanted to know if there was anything new about one dead white man. Richard would write about this, the rule of Western journalism: One hundred dead black people equal one dead white person." Since it is clear that white journalists have a greater influence, Madu asks Richard to write about the war for the Western press: "They will take what you write more seriously because you are white. If you really want to contribute, this is the way that you can. The world has to know the truth of what is happening, because they simply cannot remain silent while we die."
Although Half of a Yellow Sun does not have the conflict between a woman and patriarchy typical of feminist novels, it does show the agency of women. In one of the pivotal moments, Olanna is disappointed by Odenigbo's betrayal and goes to Kano to seek comfort from her family there. Aunty Ifeka says: "You must never behave as if your life belongs to a man. Your life belongs to you and you alone." Later on, even after forgiving Odenigbo, she confronts him about his betrayal and does not accept him justifying his actions by blaming his mother. On the other hand, when Olanna's father cheats on her mother, Olanna's mother does not confront him about it. She only asks Olanna to tell her father to do it more subtly.
Marriage is a recurrent theme in Half of a Yellow Sun. For the most part of the novel, Olanna and Kainene both live with men without it being question of marriage. Olanna refuses to get married many times at first, fearing that marriage would "flatten [their bond] to a prosaic partnership." It is only during the war, when Odenigbo is invited to a town meeting in Abba and Olanna is not, that they talk again about marriage. Olanna accepts, but the wedding is done hastily and is interrupted by an air raid. Although Richard never asks Kainene to marry him, he does mention his wish for her to be his wife many times. Arize who is poor and uneducated, admires Olanna for postponing marriage but waits eagerly for a husband herself: "It is only women that know too much Book like you who can say that, Sister. If people like me who don't know book wait too long, we will expire." Adichie seems to be saying that marriage is a pragmatic choice and women who don't need to get married might choose not to even when their boyfriends are willing.
Half of a Yellow Sun received the 2007 Women's Prize for Fiction. The award is given annually for the best original full-length novel written by a woman in English; Adichie's prize amounted to £30,000. The novel was well received by critics and included in the New York Times's "100 Most Notable Books of the Year". According to Book Marks, the book received a "rave" consensus based on seven critic reviews: five "rave" and two "positive". In the November/December 2006 issue of Bookmarks, the book received a (4.5 out of 5) with the critical summary stating, "Drawing on her family’s experience and Nigeria’s history a decade before her birth, Adichie has written an ambitious, astonishing novel that succeeds on all levels". The Bookseller reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for the novel out of "Top form", "Flawed but worth a read", and "Disappointing": Daily Telegraph review under "Top form" and Times and Sunday Times reviews under "Flawed but worth a read".
In a review for The Seattle Times, Mary Brennan called the book "a sweeping story that provides both a harrowing history lesson and an engagingly human narrative". The New York Times had a more mixed review of the book, noting that "at times Adichie's writing is too straightforward, the novel's pace too slack" but also that "whenever she touches on her favorite themes — loyalty and betrayal — her prose thrums with life." In Literary Review, William Brett wrote: "Adichie lets the suspicion of horror take root first, and then allows it to sink in gradually. This kind of subtlety makes reading her an extraordinary, unsettling but ultimately satisfying experience." The Washington Post states: "Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie certainly lives up to the hype in her second novel, Half a Yellow Sun. She wowed us with this transcendent tale about war, loyalty, brutality, and love in modern Africa. While painting a searing portrait of the tragedy that took place in Biafra during the 1960s, her story finds its true heart in the intimacy of three ordinary lives buffeted by the winds of fate. Her tale is hauntingly evocative and impossible to forget." Rob Nixon's review addressed the historical side of the novel: "Half of a Yellow Sun takes us inside ordinary lives laid waste by the all too ordinary unraveling of nation states. When an acquaintance of Olanna's turns up at a refugee camp, she notices that – he was thinner and lankier than she remembered and looked as though he would break in two if he sat down abruptly. – It's a measure of Adichie's mastery of small things – and of the mess the world is in – that we see that man arrive, in country after country, again and again and again." Writing in The Guardian, Maya Jaggi called the book "a landmark novel". Aïssatou Sidimé from San Antonio Express-News called Adichie's writing "alluring and revelatory, eloquent, prize-winning Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is quickly proving herself to be fearless in the tradition of the great African writers." Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe commented: "We do not usually associate wisdom with beginners, but here is a new writer endowed with the gift of ancient storytellers," and said about Adichie: "She is fearless, or she would not have taken on the intimidating horror of Nigeria's civil war."
In 2019, Half of a Yellow Sun was ranked by The Guardian as the 10th best book since 2000.
On 5 November 2019, the BBC News included Half of a Yellow Sun on its list of the 100 most influential novels.
In November 2020, Half of a Yellow Sun was voted the best book to have won the Women's Prize for Fiction in its 25-year history.
In 2022, Half of a Yellow Sun was included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
In 2022, Half of a Yellow Sun was banned in the Hudsonville Public Schools district in Michigan due to the book's sexual and violent imagery. It was also banned in the Clay County School District in Florida, the Beaufort County School District in South Carolina, and the Granite School District in Utah in 2022.
Upon publication, Half of a Yellow Sun gained critical acclaim. It explored the themes of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class, race and female empowerment.
A film adaptation written by playwright Biyi Bandele premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in late 2013, and had its worldwide release in 2014. The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandiwe Newton.