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LITERARY CRITICISM OF THE BOOK: "HALF OF A YELLOW SUN" BY CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE

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Zanathro Ogbu
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Title: HALF OF A YELLOW SUN

Author: CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE

Genre: FICTION(PROSE)

Publishers: ANCHOR BOOKS,UK.

Subject Matter: POLITICAL, HISTORICAL, LOVE.

Chief Characters: Master Odenigbo, Ugwu, Okeoma, Miss Adebayo, Olanna, Master's mama, Richard, Major Madu, Kainene.

STORY/PLOT: This awe-inspiring and award-winning historical tale by Chimamanda Adichie follows the intertwined lives of several individuals before, during and after the Nigerian Civil war of 1967-1970. It also touches on tales on Love and betrayals, Political situations and intellectual analysis of Master Odenigbo and his other lecturers at University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The story is laid out in several parts with Flashback, as a literary technique duly employed to further the narrative fabric of the story and fill in the missing gaps in the novel.

The story opens with the coming in of Ugwu as a houseboy to Master Odenigbo's house at Nsukka in the early sixties. It then weaves on to the tales of the relationship between Master Odenigbo and Olanna, The gathering of the lecturers at Master's house where they discuss political situations, the colonial experience and other issues that constantly arises along with the entertainment brought by Okeoma's poems. The story at this stage also captures the various lives of others in the story like the budding relationship between Kainene, Olanna's twin and Richard, Ugwu's sexual escapades, Master's mama's upsetting visits, the Lives of Jomo and Harrison. It also goes on to describe the culture, people and places of the country.

The next turn of the novel comes with the coming of the January 15 coup and the counter-coup of July 6 and the resultant killings of Igbo's in the North- the graphic horrors of it, the remote causes and the resultant tensions in the country which it describes in great detail.

Then, Eastern Nigeria secedes and the civil war breaks out. The novel goes on to follow the war as it moves on and how it then complicates the lives of its characters. Their terrible experiences, frantic movements from one place to another and the the devastating changed lives they now live. 

The novel ends with the surrender of the Biafrans and showcases how the Various characters try to pick the pieces of their shattered lives together.

A really captivating tale that is sufficient in details and mindbogglingly characters with such realistic stories with an abundance of didactic input 

SETTING: Nigeria

Time frame: Early 60's to early 70's.

LITERARY TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED:

Point of view: Third person omniscient point of view.

PLOT: Chronological plot

LITERARY DEVICES: Flashback, Suspense and Historical Allusion. Abundance of Dialogues and Characterial passage of ideas.

OGBU VINCENT CHIEDOZIE

#ANSALiteraryCriticOfTheWeekContest

 


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