Half Of A Yellow Sun Character Analysis

In Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie utilizes three fictional characters as focalizers to give different perspectives of people that lived during the Nigerian Civil War better known as the Biafran War in 1967 to 1970. Adichie’s three fictional characters are a ‘non-western village boy’ (Ugwu), a ‘foreigner’ (Richard), and a ‘Nigerian intellectual’ (Olanna). I chose to focus on the character of Olanna as her character portrays a ‘ new Igbo woman’ someone that does not conform to the traditional ways of Igbo culture. I will provide evidence for why she is seen to not be the traditional Igbo woman. In this essay I will argue that even though Olanna is a well-educated woman, she comes across as someone that is not easily influenced

She is determined to make a difference in the youth by having classes every day so “that when the war is over, they will fit back easily into regular school.” This extract displays her loyalty to Biafra’s and its education system, and the belief she has that things will go back to normal after the war. She teaches her students about the Biafran flag and what each colour and the half of a yellow sun represent. Adichie uses this moment to explain the meaning behind the Biafran flag. Besides, Olanna teaching the children the symbolism of the Biafran flag, she finds confidence and hopefulness in Biafra but also the confidence in herself. It is evident that Olanna gets drawn into the propaganda of the Biafran War she believes that Biafra will become free and the half of a yellow sun represents the hope for the Igbo, but this all stems from the false announcements that are announced on the different radio stations giving people hope that Biafra will overcome the war even though they know how bad the situation currently is and how it has negatively affected their

Olanna adopting Baby is another indication of her finding confidence in herself to make decisions out of betrayal. Olanna has a definite protective and arrogant attitude over Baby that becomes intense as the living situations worsen further into the novel. “ Olanna still has her snobbish protectiveness about Baby’s upbringing.” (Cosby, Matt. "Half of a Yellow Sun Part 2, Chapter 17." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 7 Sep 2014. Web. 27 Feb 2017.) It is apparent when they move and Baby makes a new friend she is worried about Baby picking up Adanna’s “ bush Umuahia accent or some disease.”(Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun, 327). This shows Olanna’s narrow-minded attitude towards people of a lower class and her eagerness to protect Baby from diseases even though she is on the same level as they are and it would be impossible for her to protect Baby. “ Olanna tells him this story and he notes the details...she describes the carved designs on the women’s calabash, slanting lines crisscrossing each other, and she describes the child’s head inside...” (Adichie, The Book: The World Was Silent When We Died, 82). The unnamed writer who ought to be Richard describes the scene Olanna witnessed in much detail. The head inside the Calabash represents the attachment women have to their children and the awfulness of the war. Olanna could be