A Depiction of the Nigerian Civil War in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun
Chapter One
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study intends to investigate and examine clearly how the Nigerian civil war otherwise referred to as the Biafran war is portrayed in the book. It will show how the war affected the characters as well as their response in the face of conflict. The research will outline scenes and areas in the book that support this very assertion of the war as crafted and portrayed by the writer through the various characters and situations. The research will also seek to look at the effect of the Nigerian civil war on the lives of the characters that lived through it in the text.
The research will seek to support why Half of a Yellow Sun is a historical narration of the Nigerian past through the lives of some characters as well as places and events that shape setting and plot of the entire story.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction: The Concept of War
The concept of war can be seen as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities. It is generally characterized by extreme collective aggression, destruction and usually high mortality. The set of techniques and actions used to conduct war is known as warfare. (Wikipedia). The mere threat of war and the presence of mutual disdain between political communities do not suffice as indicators of war. The conflict of war must be actual and not merely latent for it to count as war. (Standard Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Furthermore, it must be both intentional and widespread. War is about governance, using violence instead of peaceful measures to resolve policy.
The Standard Encyclopedia of philosophy states that, Carl von Clausewitz defines war as an act of violence intended to compel our opponent to fulfill our will. Indeed, war employs the use of force and coercion, destruction and every means possible so as to bring the foe into subjection and surrender. It is not meant to be peaceful and often results in the wanton destruction of lives and property’s just to achieve an end.
Micheal Galvan also sees war in that same negative perspective. He describes war as an actual widespread and deliberate armed conflict between political communities, motivated by a sharp disagreement over governance (Standard Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
From all indications, it is evident that war is never a good thing. It is a conscious act and a brutal execution of violence on lives and nature in general; and is brought about as a result of differences in ideologies, choices, passions etc. War is a brutal and ugly enterprise, yet it remains central to human history and social change. What is certainly true, in any event is that war and its threat will continue to be forces in our personal lives.
Literature Review
The issue of war is never new to Africa and Nigeria in particular. The continent has witnessed several upheavals since post colonial times and it has come to be accepted as part of human existence because conflict cannot be avoided especially when people live together. A lot of literature has surfaced overtime regarding the issue of the Nigerian civil war. The gruesome experiences have been captured, not only by Nigerian authors but others, the world over. The array of interest was intense probably because it was the first of its kind on the African continent.
This research paper would seek to review some existing literature in this regard. Literature bordering on the civil war, as well as reviews about the book. (Half of a Yellow Sun) as they combine to give us an insight into the topic under study.
It is important to note that, the civil war affected numerous lives. Lives and property’s were destroyed; many more were scarred in a bid to knit back the pieces that were falling off. It is no doubt that the author has been creative in recapturing and reconstructing the war experience.
Tony Duruaku thus asserts and identifies courage as one of the traits of a good creative writer. He maintains that, the creative writer “needs to be courageous in order to be true to his art and play the role of a guardian of the society’s conscience” (24). Chimamanda demonstrate this by taking on the daunting task of writing about the Nigerian civil war. Achebe also acknowledges her courage to have “taken on the intimidating horrors of the Nigerian civil war” (blurb).Although the topic of the Nigerian civil war is hardly discussed in the generation she finds herself, she found the guts to research and write about the past that seemed forgotten. This prompted Hawley to say that, although she did not experience it personally, it “is her legacy and its telling her duty” (21).
CHAPTER THREE
Data and Textual Analysis
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie displays her fictional portrait of the Nigerian civil war in a daring and most fascinating fashion. Her historical master piece conveys the effects the colonial experience played in fuelling the conflict. It also relates the failure of the Nigerian government in addressing issues that culminated into the war. Her fictive work belongs to the literary genre of historical war novels which draft a period of conflict in the life of a country as a backdrop to a story.
Through the tripartite lens of Ugwu, Olanna and Odenigbo the story unfolds simultaneously as it brings into light the drama that progresses with intricate network of tangles, bringing to the fore the key players and officiators of the war. Prominent Nigerians like Ojukwu, Gowon etc are mentioned. Their roles are clearly spelled out. Though the intention is not aimed at discrediting them but she merely tells the war story and love story of Biafra to a new generation of people.
Half of a Yellow Sun is a historical war fiction novel that chronicles the history of the Nigerian civil war. The novel and the story oscillate between two epochs- early sixties and late sixties which is structured into four parts, all totaling 37 chapters.
Plot Construction
In the first part of the novel which begins in the early thirties, the story starts with a thirteen year old boy named Ugwu. Ugwu has been brought from the village to the radical professor of Mathematics (Odenigbo) in taking care of his household chores. Ugwu knows very little about the city life and finds a lot of things strange and overwhelming primarily because of his little exposure in school and other spheres of life. During weekends, Odenigbo would have his friends from the university come over for an intellectual duel where they would debate about issues ranging from politics to education, colonialism Pan-Africanism as well as tribalism. In one of their duels, Odenigbo observes that “the only authentic identity for the African is the tribe” (33) which is subsequently employed by the colonialist to cause disharmony amongst the Nigerians.
CHAPTER FOUR
Summary and Conclusion
The Nigerian Civil War is the prevailing theme of Half of a Yellow Sun. The research therefore has been able to portray clearly in detail the civil war as captured by the author. The research has been able to draw out scenes in the novel that captured the war taking into cognizance its adverse effects on the citizens. The 30 month war caused a great setback for Nigeria as a country. As much as thousands were killed and displaced. It also retarded the development of the country. Human resources were laid to waste as well as infrastructures. As a result, the country had to start from the very scratch in these regions.
The research has also considered the historical incidences that precipitated and shaped the war as well as the key players on both fronts. The issues also that dragged the war to the finish are adequately portrayed. These incidences constitute an integral part of the war story. As a nation that had just been birthed, there were a lot of challenges that had to be tackled by the inexperienced leaders. Their inability to handle these issues appropriately served as the pedal that propelled and fuelled the war. Adichie fictionalizes this story by bringing out the salient issues, the sufferings of the ordinary man as well as the major characters that were at the fore front of it all. She tells the story of Nigeria by unearthing issues that have been long forgotten, laying it bare for all of us to learn from and correct our wrongs as a country and a people. Her characters tell the whole experience of war with their lives.
The findings from the research reveal that, Half of a Yellow Sun is indeed a typical portrayal of the Nigerian civil war. This is due to the fact that it captures the pre war unrest, the war itself and the resultant effect on the lives of the people. The historical happenings that shaped it only serving as the background.
Conclusion
In this study, the researcher has been able to prove the fact that indeed Half of a YellowSun is an obvious and glaring fictional portrayal of the Nigerian/Biafran civil war. No doubt the author through her characters has been able to capture the Nigerian war experience by fictionalizing and yet retaining the facts that shaped the war.
Her characters depict the real suffering that people go through when faced with the reality of war. Through historical incidences relating to the war, the novel uses this as bedrock to which the foundation of the story is laid. From this study, it is clear that poor conflict management can easily degenerate to regrettable consequences.
Works Cited
Primary Sources
- Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Half of a Yellow Sun. Lagos: Farafina, 2006. Print.
Secondary Sources
- Achebe, Chinua. There Was a Country. London: Pengium, 2012. Print.
- Ajami, Makokha Gloria. “Portrayal of the African Woman in Half of a Yellow Sun” Journal Research in Peace, Gender and Development. 4.6 (2014):111-120. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
- Akpome, Aghogho. “Narrating a New Nationalism: Exploring the Ideological and Stylistic Influence of Chinua Achebe’s Anthill of the Savannah (1987) on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun” (2006). MA thesis, University of Johannasburg, South Africa. 115. Web. 5 April 2016.
- Awolowo O. Path to Nigerian Freedom. London: Faber and Faber, 1966. Print.
- Ben Florman and Justine Kestler, Litcharts Editors. “Litcharts on Half of a Yellow Sun”. Litcharts.com. 7 July 2016.
- ‘Book Talk: author Adichie doesn’t mind her own business’, Interview by Pauline Askin, Reuters, 1 July 2009. Web. 7 may 2016.
- ‘Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,’ by Carrie Gracie, The Interview, BBC World Service, 21 Dec. 2010. Web. 15 July 2016.
- De May, Joke. “The intersection of History, Literature and Trauma in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun”. MA thesis, Ghent University, Belgium, (2011): 12-34. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
- Duruaku, Tony. Basic Creative Writing. Owerri: Taurus, 2006. Print.
- Folade, Adewunmi J. “African Journal of Political Science and International Relations”.5.3 (2011): 120-124.Web. 13 Dec. 2015.