"I the sun refuses to rise, we will make it rise" (Adichie 219)
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The author of Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie arrange the structure of the novel in a slight different way as it conform the traditional structure, but in a unique way.
This book is written in four parts containing The Early Sixties (Part 1), The Late Sixties (Part 2), The Early Sixties (Part 3), and Late Sixties (Part 4). Part 1 serves as the groundwork of the novel, introducing characters and placing readers in to domestic lives of those characters. Part 2 takes place four years later, and Part 3 goes back 3 years. Lastly, Part 4 takes readers back to present. Other than Part 3, going back in time, the novel does conform the traditional structure.
Another unique thing in this novel that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie experiment is that each chapter is a third person point of view from three different characters of the novel. This is a subversive way of constructing a plot as each chapter is from the view point of three characters, Ugwu, Olanna, and Richard as their lives drastically change and torn apart during a Civil War. It is almost a pattern of the rotation of those three characters (the first word of each chapter is one of those three character’s name, advising the readers that that chapter is about that certain character). This unique technique gives readers the idea of the plot and conflict of the novel as each characters experience different narratives. Ugwu is a 13-year-old boy who works as Odengbo’s (Olanna’s husband) houseboy. Richard is an Englishman who came to Nigeria to study arts and writing. Olanna is the wife off Odengbo, grown in a rich family and educated in England. Each character having different backgrounds and ideals made the book not only it made the story more understandable, but helped go through each event in different views of the three characters. This unique way Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie constructs the plot diverge from previous traditional structures which attracts and encourages the readers to keep on reading.
This book is written in four parts containing The Early Sixties (Part 1), The Late Sixties (Part 2), The Early Sixties (Part 3), and Late Sixties (Part 4). Part 1 serves as the groundwork of the novel, introducing characters and placing readers in to domestic lives of those characters. Part 2 takes place four years later, and Part 3 goes back 3 years. Lastly, Part 4 takes readers back to present. Other than Part 3, going back in time, the novel does conform the traditional structure.
Another unique thing in this novel that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie experiment is that each chapter is a third person point of view from three different characters of the novel. This is a subversive way of constructing a plot as each chapter is from the view point of three characters, Ugwu, Olanna, and Richard as their lives drastically change and torn apart during a Civil War. It is almost a pattern of the rotation of those three characters (the first word of each chapter is one of those three character’s name, advising the readers that that chapter is about that certain character). This unique technique gives readers the idea of the plot and conflict of the novel as each characters experience different narratives. Ugwu is a 13-year-old boy who works as Odengbo’s (Olanna’s husband) houseboy. Richard is an Englishman who came to Nigeria to study arts and writing. Olanna is the wife off Odengbo, grown in a rich family and educated in England. Each character having different backgrounds and ideals made the book not only it made the story more understandable, but helped go through each event in different views of the three characters. This unique way Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie constructs the plot diverge from previous traditional structures which attracts and encourages the readers to keep on reading.
Intertwining perspective of three characters according to each Chapter:
Part 1: The Early Sixties
1. Ugwu 2. Olanna 3. Richard 4. Ugwu 5. Olanna 6. Richard |
Part 2: The Late Sixties
7. Ugwu 8. Olanna 9. Richard 10. Ugwu 11. Olanna 12. Richard 13. Olanna 14. Richard 15. Ugwu 16. Richard 17. Olanna 18. Ugwu |
Part 3: The Early SIxties
19. Ugwu 20. Olanna 21. Richard 22. Ugwu 23. Olanna 24. Richard |
Part 4: The Late Sixties
25. Olanna 26. Ugwu 27. Richard 28. Olanna 29. Ugwu 30. Richard 31. Olanna 32. Ugwu 33. Richard 34. Olanna 35. Ugwu 36. Richard 37. Olanna |