Half of a Yellow Sun - A Review

“…my point is that 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…”

Kenya’s disputed election outcome, back in 2007/2008, highlighted just how swiftly ethnic forces can push a country to the brinks of a civil war. Africa, since the colonialists left, has always endured wars often sparked off by differences in tribal allegiances. We witnessed it brutally in Rwanda, Congo has had its own fair share and even more recently with the South Sudan conflict. Tribalism runs deep amongst us Africans, and it is ironic really how the diversity that once symbolized our rich heritage threatens to raze our very being. While Kenya was lucky to escape slightly scathed, the West African state of Nigeria went the whole nine yards, experiencing one of the most gruesome civil wars ever witnessed on the continent. Chimamanda Adichie’s seminal novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, continues the long-standing bond between literature and history, as she excellently recounts the tragic happenings of the Biafran war.

Generally told through the perspective of Ugwu, a teenage houseboy who seemingly is an ever-present character in the book, Adichie depicts Biafra quite enthrallingly. The story starts off by introducing us to Ugwu who is being taken by his aunt to work at the University in Nsukka for one of the African intellects recently back from studying overseas – Odenigbo. Odenigbo comes across as amiable, treating Ugwu kindly, unlike the treatment the other neighborhood houseboys receive from their masters. Odenigbo regularly hosts his group of intellectual friends, drinking and catching up on the latest political developments around the world. Life fairs on a usual until Master, as Odenigbo is known as to Ugwu, one day announces the arrival of ‘a special woman’ from the U.K. Olanna, whose English Ugwu describes as ‘magic compared to Odenigbo’s, is Odenigbo’s girlfriend and later on wife. The daughter of a rich but shady businessman, Olanna turns down a hefty job offer from her father’s immoral politician friend, Chief Okonji, and moves in with Odenigbo at the University.

Olanna has a twin sister, Kainene - a glum and asocial yet strong-willed woman, who gets romantically involved with Richard, a visiting Englishman. The book goes on telling of the social entwinements of the five’s lives while also telling of the political trouble brewing up north between the Hausa and Igbo. A massacre ensues, and following it, the Igbo form a secessionist state called Biafra. This eventually sparks off a civil war between Nigeria and Biafra, sending our characters running for their lives as they quest for survival and a new state.

A style I found compelling in the work is the irony intricately woven in the storyline. The irony of how a state in its birth is brought to a sudden end before it fully rises. The irony of how a strained sisterly relationship blossomed during a terrible war.

Half of a Yellow Sun was Adichie’s second book and, in my opinion, was that which thrust her into the league of African literary greats. The vivid, emotion jerking images of the war she effortlessly paints through her meticulous yet impressive choice of words would easily allure readers and critics alike. Themes of empowerment; women empowerment and empowerment through education, corruption, death and love (which Adichie seemingly has a penchant for) can also be traced through out the novel.

I have halfway read only one other Adichie novel, Americanah, but can confidently commend how well she manages to tell her stories while still remaining African at the same time. Clearly one of the best writers of this new generation, Adichie to me is a pleasant apparition of Achebe. While I’d give Achebe five stars out of five as a writer, I’d rate Adichie as a four – then maybe add a point five, as Biafra, an important bit of history I erstwhile wasn’t aware of, would surely have never come to my comprehension but for the intricacies of her beautifully written book.