Right from the onset, we follow the life of the poor village boy, Ugwu, whose aunty finds him a job in the home of a university professor, Odenigbo. Once Ugwu has relocated from the village to the Professor’s environment, we witness the trait Ugwu brings from the village through his actions and characterization.
As the novel advances, we meet such pivotal characters like the twin sisters (Olanna and Kainene), Richard (an Englishman and an aspiring writer) and Odenigbo (the university Professor). Olanna and Kainene had just returned from the United Kingdom to Nigeria after their long academic stay. When they had arrived in their home country, Nigeria, they carried along many hopes, expectations and anticipations. Olanna carried the hope of becoming a university lecturer; a job his revolutionary lover, Odenigbo, was already engaged in. Kainene, on the other outlook, was burdened with the hope of taking over the family business. Before these dreams and hopes could fully be realized, there is a coup that would later lead to succession of annihilation, obliteration and then warfare. The warfare, also known as the Nigerian-Biafra warfare spans a period of three year thus between the year 1967 to 1970. I must admit that I admire this book for one major reason. Although the core of the theme of the story is about the Nigerian-Biafra war, the author does so well to keep most of the excesses one would expect of a war novel to the background and then concentrates much on the effects that the war had over the characters. The novel brings to the foreground the life of a people who are trapped in a political war, almost like any other insect other than the spider caught in a spider web.
The history of the existence of the war could not be overlooked at: a war much more of any other thing than political. It is mostly after the war that we see its economic and socio-economic effects on both the major and minor characters. The war erupts when the Igbo’s came to the realization that the Hausas are given leading roles in government and they (the Hausas) also thought that the Igbo’s wanted to take over the entire Nigerian governance. These misunderstandings between the two factions suddenly led to the overthrow of the Hausa government by the Igbo-led military.
Any reader of Half of a Yellow Sun is quick to come to terms with the fact that war is not good for any country at any particular time. During the Biafra war, we see the caios; disorder and tensions build up among the characters and the society in which they live. We see that whether the village community or the literates in the society are all caught up with the struggles and disappointments that the war brings. In the midst of the war, we see that the poor villager, Ugwu shares and eat the same kind of food, drink the same kind of water and other resources that are limited at the time of the war with the elite and well-to-do group like Professor Odenigbo, the twin sisters Olanna and Kainene, Okeoma among others.
The novel is divided into four main parts thus, Early Sixties, Late Sixties, Early Sixties and Late Sixties. The way the novel is divided helps to build an increasing suspense through the actions of the characters and this helps the reader to read along without boredom. For instance, an action that would have occurred earlier on in one part of the division of the novel is better understood at another part of another division. Although the novel has these divisions, the author does so well to carry a single narrative which is at once masterly and artistic.
Half of a Yellow Sun is a book I will not hesitate to recommend to anyone who wants to read a good story. The author is a daring and bold writer who writes with a good ear about the past so well that one wonders if she had ever lived in the past in which she is writing.
You can check the okada.com bookstore for a copy or Amazon.com
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