105 pages • 3 hours read
Half of a Yellow Sun
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Symbols & Motifs
Ancient Igbo-Ukwu Pots
The ancient and magnificently designed pots appear incessantly throughout the novel, but they are most important in relation to the character of Richard Churchill. When he first comes across a picture of these artistic pots, he instantly becomes fascinated with them, which, in turn, triggers his ensuing lifelong fascination with Nigerian culture. Fellow Europeans assume that Richard is only interested in the pots as an avenue for exploitation, but Richard is honestly and sincerely absorbed by the magnificence of the pots. When Richard goes to visit an archaeological excavation site where some of these pots are present, the guides at the site are surprised that Richard has not brought a camera with him as all the other Westerners do, illustrating that he enjoys the pots for their own sake. At the end of the novel, when Richard is searching for Kainene, he accidently shows a picture of the pots to a stranger instead of Kainene’s photo, portraying that the reason he came to Nigeria is not the same reason that he ultimately decides to stay.
The Flag of Biafran
The Biafran flag occurs as a repeated motif throughout the novel. It is constantly encountered on the shoulder patches of Biafran soldiers, but it is a motif that is uniquely comprised of multiple symbolic elements. For instance, consider the colors of the flag. At one point in the narrative, Olanna lectures her classroom of students that the green of the flag signifies the impending success of Biafra, its yellow signifies the luxurious fate of Biafra, and its black denotes the blood of the innocent Igbos that have been murdered by the Hausas. Furthermore, as the novel progresses, the flag comes to embody and illustrate the hopes, dreams, and patriotism of the Biafran Igbos. But the half-sun found at the center of the Biafran flag is symbolically indicative of the rebellious nation’s fate. Their “sunrise” would only ever reach halfway, as the nation ultimately fails in its rebellion. In this light, the flag serves to symbolize the failure of the Biafran cause.
Nigerian Air Raids
The middle and later portions of the novel are littered with aerial bombardments conducted by Nigerian war planes, and these attacks come to symbolize indiscriminate death and the terrorization of innocent civilians. Odenigbo and Olanna’s wedding is interrupted by an air raid, and in the ensuing attack the couple witnesses their houseboy’s head get severed from a piece of shrapnel. At first Olanna is traumatized by the attacks and comes to fear loud noises, but eventually she becomes callous to their occurrence and is no longer phased by them. The majority of the air raids depicted in the book are against civilian targets that arguably have no military value, such as roadways and schools. These abhorrent attacks allow the air raids to become a symbol within the novel of the massive amount of innocent civilians whose lives were lost during the Nigerian Civil War.
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