Intra-Gender Conflicts In Adichie’s Half Of A Yellow Sun

Intra-Gender Conflicts In Adichie’s Half Of A Yellow Sun

Summary of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s half of a yellow sun

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 dynamic relationships of five people's lives including twin daughters of an influential businessman, a professor, a British citizen, and a houseboy. After Biafra's declaration of secession, the lives of the main characters drastically changed and were 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 very loyal. 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 Englishman who has come 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 died 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 infant 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 as a result of food shortages and the constant air raids and paranoid atmosphere. There are also allusions to a conflict between Olanna and Kainene, Richard and Kainene and Olanna and Odenigbo.

When the novel jumps back to the early 1960s, we learn that Odenigbo slept with a village girl, Amala, who then had 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 are living with Kainene and Richard, where Kainene was running a refugee camp. Their situation is hopeless, as they have no food or 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.

Intra-Gender Conflicts In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half Of A Yellow Sun

 Half of a Yellow Sun has 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 a 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.