Half of a Yellow Sun 67-147 [Chapters 3-6] - Article Example

Half of a Yellow Sun The narrative, Half of a yellow Sun is more about hope. As the says the half of a yellow sunis a symbol of hope where there was darkness. This took place during the 1960s where there was a struggle of Biafra in establishing itself as its own republic in Nigeria. These changes have a great impact of the lives of the characters. Their lives were wasted by the unraveling of Nigeria and Biafra. The main characters have their lives thrown apart by the war as their loyalty to each other despite the differences in class, race and ethnicity.

The author uses their experiences to highlight the history of Biafra. Adichie learnt about the history of Biafra from her grandmother and does not fail to acknowledge that most of the history has been overshadowed by the present modern day life where most people are ignorant of their history and its impact on the present. The structure of the novel is well set where the reader gets a brief introduction with the other chapters making it simple for the reader to read and comprehend the novel. As the title of the novel suggests half of a yellow sun meaning there is hope, the main characters especially with Kainene and Olanna who are portrayed to have very strong qualities as they do not lose hope despite all the setbacks that they face.

Some of the setbacks include: ethnic cleansing, starvation, scarcity of joy, sex and forceful evictions. Adichie has captured the unctuous self-righteousness of the rich social class and the elites which exists as a cultural pathology in the present day. Ignorance of culture especially the Biafra and Nigerian culture is evident in the present day Nigeria where the children are ignorant of their culture as they only know English. Another example of cultural ignorance is in Harrison the Nigerian cook.

It is ironical that he has a vast knowledge of western recipes and is ignorant of the Nigerian recipes. He proudly presents his recipes which include: “a bean and mushroom soup, a pawpaw medley, chicken in a cream sauce speckled with greens and a lemon tart as pudding!” ( Adichie 67). Though the novel is about Biafra, Adichie tries to enlighten the reader on the existence of some of the past evils like corruption. Despite the impact of war the same corruption that was in the 1960s is still present today as nothing much has changed.

Corruption in Nigeria is still present and rampant. Hence the reader of this story is left with the thought that the novel serves the purpose of talking about the fate of the Nigerian people who are still suffering. The African elite adopting western cultures instead of condemning its negativity thus showing that nothing has really changed as it has gone from bad to worse. The elite are the same people who convinced the Biafra civilians to go to a war that did not concern them. The author has therefore exposed the African elite as being self-righteous and hypocritical by convincing the civilians to go to a civil war.

Adichie therefore bring out the promise and personally the disturbing displeasure that are present at this time and place. Adichie makes the reader to focus on our history at the same time compare it to our present situation and hence challenges the reader to be courageous in the fight against the system that might lead us to a repeat occurrence of the Biafra Civil war. The book Half of a Yellow Sun is more like a museum as it reminds the reader about their history especially the Biafra history as most history has been forgotten as people readily embrace the Western cultures blindly without considering its consequences.

It is important that we preserve our traditional history as it directly or indirectly determines our present day life.Works CitedAdichie, Chimamanda. Half of a Yellow Sun. New York: Anchor. 2007. Print.