₦airaland Forum

Half of a Yellow Sun is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's award-winning second novel, and was listed as one of New York Times Most Notable Books of 2006. Many critics praised Half of a Yellow Sun and predicted that Achidie will be hailed as a significant writer of the twenty-first century.

The novel takes place in Nigeria, where the author was born. The time frame is the 1960s during the country's Nigerian-Biafran War. The main characters are on the Biafran side of the conflict. The story is told through three different points of view: Ugwu, a young teenage boy who represents the people of the outlying villages; his tribe clings to a more traditional, tribal way of life; Olanna, the daughter of well-to-do city-dwellers; and Richard, a white ex-patriot originally from England, who falls in love with Olanna's twin sister. The story is a combination of politics and personal relationships, charged by the brutal conflicts that occur around the main characters.

The story begins in a somewhat peaceful and almost idyllic setting. Olanna has fallen in love with a radical Nigerian professor who rallies his colleagues, friends, and students around the idea that the mostly southern portion of Nigeria needs to declare its independence. A new country will be formed and it will be called Biafra. Many of the characters are inspired and excited about this concept.

But well into the novel, the realities of war become a major factor. This is not strictly a north/south revolt but rather the conflict is based mostly on tribal disputes. Living mostly in the south, the Igbo people do not trust the more northern tribes people called the Hausa. The main characters of this story are Igbo. Although their hearts are in favor of the revolution and ultimate independence, the Igbo people are not as well prepared, equipped, or financed as the Hausa. In the end, the Igbo people suffer tremendous losses.

Readers are taken through these struggles, losses, and sufferings.  In the process, readers learn of at least one side of this particular time in Nigerian history. But this novel is more than a history lesson. Family relationships, love affairs, community involvements, and the conflicts between the traditional tribal ways of life versus the more modern, often more corrupt, manner of life in the cities are fully explored.

bekay911:
do u mind joining us sir?

follypimpi:
Thomas Eisfeld there's no video of the dude on utube, na waoo

StarBoard:
If I paid £18 million for a keeper I think I'd be right to expect solid performances from him given the high ratings he has had so far.
I don't buy the excuse that he's young.Iker Casiolas was his age in 2000 when he kept goal against us for Real in the CL and almost single-handedly denied us progress at OT.He is replacing Edwin van Der Sar not Tomasz Kuscsjk.We are supposed to be progressing from a season where we won the PL,finished second in the CL and reached the semis of the FA Cup.So there should be no room for shaky-shaky displays from week to week.
Michael Owen is entitled to his opinion but making excuses a la six players were in the box which didn't allow him to jump sounds like baloney to me.Edwin van Der Sar never filled any United fan with fear when he was between the sticks.He always commanded his eighteen/six yard box during corners/set pieces from the wings.Every player knew he was around and he threw his weight around no matter the size of the players involved.This muppet wearing our no1 jersey and gloves to match with a scraggly beard flaps at crosses that make his transfer fee look like 18 million CFAs.Ask us how Blackburn got three unthinkable points against us.
Face it:the boy hasn't got what it takes to make the jersey his.
You say these kind of errors happen regularly in the EPL.Damn it,you should be expecting the spotlight to be on you, because it's MANCHESTER UNITED.Who gives a flying hell about what the other 19 clubs do?Youre playing for the biggest club in England in all ramifications and you expect to pass under the radar?Then I guess you're the wrong club.I guess you should know this by now.Didnt DeGea expect that his every move on and off the pitch would be scrutinized?
Sorry but it doesn't quite cut it for me.If he's homesick,that's a different matter entirely.

Johnpaul88:
Mou should be thankful injury has not struck his team b/c if it does, he will be forced to rest them, though i am not wishing his team injury just because we need pts.

ritchboy:
Why so gloomy? Madrid still have to come to Camp Nou, a win for Barca reduces the deficit to 4 points, which can be made up in as little as two games.

Having said that Real are obviously the favorites now cos apart from the lead they look more menacing away from home. Barca's injury list isn't helping matters either.

AjanleKoko:
We have definitely lost the league.

StarBoard:
@Emperoh,
It's pretty obvious that our lack of creativity in the middle is the reason we can't shift into another gear when playing top sides.
Early in the season when we ran amok,they said this seasons side was far better than last.To. Cleverley got injured and Anderson got clueless.The injuries have piled up but there is no excuse for us to be out of 3 competitions by January ending,mostly in humiliating circumstances.There was no reason forus to lose yesterday's game as Liverpool weren't on their game.Like you said we didn't up our game to take the tie.
What is baffling is Fergie's treatment of Berbatov.Playing Welbeck ahead of him is a disgrace.Welbeck simply isn't good enough to start.The boy is clumsy,daft,silly and irritatingly ruins our forward play with his unintelligent approach to link-up play.Then when you go down late in the game you bring in Berba for Welbeck to try to salvage things.DB9 didn't even get a kick in after wasting away all game (and all season).
Then we have bumbling David De Gea who should have been back up to Anders Lindergaard but was thrust into the number one this season.The result?One error-filled game after the other that has contributed immensely to our season coming unhinged at the seams.
Don't expect us to win the title this season.We have testing visits to Chelsea and Spurs.We need 6points from those ties to keep  the title chase alive.Simply don't see how we're going to achieve this given what we saw yesterday.
It's all down to Fergie and his signings over the summer(failing to sign the right players),wrong use of players (like letting folks like Diuof rot on the bench after courting him only for him to be sold) and inability to play people to their strengths (playing people out of position), and just thinking he'll get away with stuff just because he's Fergie.

ritchboy:
Even Johnny Evans pings accurate 60 yard passes, the question is how well/consistently.

Selective amnesia. . . Iniesta has never registered double digits after 8 years as a Barca regular. In fact just two seasons ago he managed just ONE GOAL IN 42 APPEARANCES in all competitions!

The same Puyol that is being outperformed by Mascherano(a midfielder) in defense? The same Pedro that has been struggling for a while and is now mostly an impact-sub?

When Iniesta and Pedro have a solitary league goal between them all season, they obviously need his productivity!!!

Nuccah can't you read? -

He has played better and more productive football, what other basis is there?

"WHY" Silva has been better is irrelevant, the fact is he has. Whether Iniesta has been rubbish because Pep chose to play him at center-back or in goal is his own cup of zobo. Silva will still outscore and out-assist Iniesta if he replaced him in the Barca squad today because he has the ability to do so while Iniesta has been proven not to over the years; irrespective of the presence of Messi or Xavi. Messi and Xavi haven't stopped Cesc from copping 14 goals and 12 assists despite starting only 20 games. Men lie, cougars lie, numbers don't!

What does the success-rate of through balls have to do with Cesc Fabregas? If Jesus played football he'll also have better accuracy with simpler passes to slightly/un-marked teammates than through-balls which have to beat 1-3 defenders and possibly a covering goalie not to mention the recipient anticipating the direction/trajectory of the pass.

Good point. In the same situation Iniesta is liable to play a safe pass that amounts to nothing 99% of the time and drugs-up his pass accuracy, Cesc would spot a run and try and pick out a key-pass. If he tries it 6 times, 2 may be intercepted, 2 may be misplaced, and 2 will create genuine scoring opportunities, one of which will be converted. No risk no reward.

This is precisely why Cesc is head and shoulders above every other player in the world with over 100 assists in the last 5 and a half seasons alone and Iniesta can't hold a candle to it!

dasparrow:
8 years of fornicating and didly dadling and now he is bored. Of course! I blame all those women who have no self respect. They keep giving a man their body for free. Any man who trully loves you will not want to desecrate your body until he has made you his legal wife. se/x has nothing to do with love. Any man that claims you do not love him because you refused to open your legs is a fraud. As a woman, you owe no other man your body other than your legally married husband. The sooner women learn this, the lesser their chances of suffering a major heart break.

Johnpaul88:
@Coogar, u sure are very ready! Ride on!

ronkebp:
Ok, so that is why, we as ''adults'' and parents too should support her hiding this ''big thing'' from her own parents, what is the worst that can happen? they will disown her? Don't mind me shaaa, i am just looking out for baby- Destiny, i really do not want that child to be somewhere else without proper care. Chioma has gone through alot and i understand that, but that baby is too precious to be playing poker game with, and i think her mum can help take care of the kid more than anyone, will she (Chioma) be in serious trouble, OH!!!! Yes!!!!!!.

mbulela:
i think Anderson will play instead of Park.
any news on Young?

goodsegs:
Maybe Only In Nigeria,Kids or no Kids,people now walk away,
But really i don't see how the number of years of relationship affects true and Genuine Love,Marriage is even a Life time,
Divorce is now an Option and i am sure you know the divorce rate both in Nigeria and every other part of the world

ronkebp:
Frankly, her parents are so relevant, if she were an ''adult'' why is she trying to hide it from her parents?

Johnpaul88:
Assists La Liga UCL CDR USC SSC CWC Total
Messi 8 3 2 1 2 1 17
Xavi 7 1 4 0 0 1 13
Fabregas 6 0 5 0 0 0 11
Dani Alves 7 1 0 0 0 2 10
Thiago 2 1 1 0 0 2 6
Cuenca 0 4 2 0 0 0 6
Adriano 3 1 1 0 1 0 6
Iniesta 5 0 0 0 0 0 5

this stat is obtained from totalbarca.com and is correct as of 20th of jan.

@coogar, get ur facts right before u post them here. Posting wrong stats just to prove a fact, shows desperation.

ritchboy:
"Hoof" suggests a hopeful ball aimed at a target man, Cesc doesn't do that, stop lying. A precise 60 yard pass cannot be called "hoofing" based on distance alone. Iniesta doesn't do it as well or as often as Cesc because he simply doesn't have the ability.

Again, he is "not interested" in getting into those positions because he doesn't have the ability to do so. Cesc also acts as an orchestrator/string-puller(blimey, the whole attacking 5/6 at Barca chip in), it doesn't stop him from getting into the box and scoring goals.

Barcelona were also fine before Villa/Sanchez/Pedro etc arrived, how does it affect the price of alomo? Cesc is Barca's most productive player after Messi with 14 goals and 12 assists from just 20 starts:

What has Iniesta added this season?

I have already told you why this train of though should be derailed:

Since you've conveniently limited your stats to league games, Cesc has 9 goals and 5 assists in La Liga, Iniesta has 4 assists and NOT A SINGLE GOAL by February!!! LOLOL
Of course Silva has been better than Iniesta this season, no question!

These figures were collected over a short period of time and are limited to league games. In any case the first two thirds are negligible. In the final third, Cesc attempts more final-balls(which are like 3 or 4 times more liable to interception/misplacement) than Iniesta, try again.

Toaskarity:
OH MY GOD! ARE SOME FOOL REALLY TRYING TO JUSTIFY BOKO HARAM FOR REAL ? IF SO THEN YOU ARE THE WORST HUMAN BEING ON EARTH,

like it or not, terrorist group or whatever has come to stay as far as islam is concern in Nigeria. The option is to invite western countries army into this case but lets even take countries that has did the same and ask, did terrorism stop there ? hell no! instead the case worsen, i dont actually know if ppl see muslim as i see them? their mode of thinking is totally different from ordinary ppl. So Nigeria govt should never worry about dialogue! terrorism has come to stay! guys get it into your skulls

my suggestion is that if actually they want arabian law/sharia or whatever to their states, then why not? give them what they want afterall they are the majority there and let there be peace for goodness sake! the christians there are minority, remember guys we are in Democracy and the majority got the decision so why the phuck will there own be different instead of ppl dying like cows. My fellow christians up there dont get mad at me, if actually that some americans or christians can live in arab countries and obey their law, why not northern Nigeria.

norrisman:
You are a joker. The constitution says Nigeria is a secular state where people are free to practise their faiths within the confines of the law without fear of persecution.

norrisman:
Just as backward as sentencing a man to death by hanging for stealing a car stereo or maybe a quicker way firing squad. in the US a supposedly tolerant, forward, mordern sysrtem of life, they even use letha injection and sometimes they fry you (electric chair)

Our secular system of government that entrenches corruption where a ''microscopic few who have piloted the affairs of the country live in peasanted luxury and propensit solititude'' and the majority die in poverty. a system which orders its security forces to summarilly execute  people. A system which wipes out whole towns (Odi & Zaki biam). The list goes on.

I do not support sharia and I'll be honest and say I'll be the first to skip town if sharia was implemented where I lived but maybe these BH guys have had enough of secular governments failure and just wish to try something else out. Like I said earlier, there is no such thing as a dumb request in democracy. Nigeria is secular state but remember we passed a law banning homosexuality based on our christian and muslim moral values.

norrisman:
I am afraid terrorist and ethical can not go together in the same sentence. Ethical terrorist  is an oxymoron.

If MEND was against pollution, why hasnt the pollution stopped? (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/22/nigerian-shell-oil-spill) the story in the link tells you about the worst oil spill in Nigeria in over a decade. MEND members were just out to get their own share of the National cake.

BH say they want sharia (sounds reasonable to me) and do not want western education (completely dumb and they have the choice of not sending their wards to western schools). In a democracy, you can ask for anything. It just has to be debated, you cannot reject it outright, no matter how dumb it sounds. I am sure you have heard of people in the west asking for the most ridiculous of man made religions like Jedi to be accepted by the state.

KnowAll:
I carry a bullet in my lap, so nobody will talk to me about secession or breaking away. If you do, I will call a tailor, take my measurement, get back in to khaki to go and fight even at age 71.”

He also lashed Niger-Delta leaders over their possessive comments on President Goodluck Jonathan with disregard to the sensibilities of other Nigerians, who voted overwhelmingly for Jonathan at the polls.

Insisting that Nigeria has come to stay as an independent country, Babangida listed critical issues, which he said were not negotiable in a united Nigeria, irrespective of challenges and perceived differences. They are indivisibility of the nation, capitalistic nature of Nigeria and states as federating units.

According to him, these issues must not be touched as the doctrine of Nigeria settlement had come to stay, adding that for three years during the civil war, Nigerians fought for the unity of the country.

The former military leader urged the media to desist from reporting stories that centre on Christian South and Moslem North because “wherever you go in this country, you will find in the North there are Christians as much as we have Muslims. In the South, it is the same but I think the emphasis is on Christian South , Muslim North.”

oluite:
This I havent seen in a while o!
Me self i wear microscope on my eye
Naija i don learn
I have to relearn this attitude you have.

norrisman:
So there are good and bad terrorists? All the MEND armed robbery casualties were soldiers abi? All the people that died in Abuja on independence day were soldiers abi. So soldiers guearing the countrys installatios are not innocent abi?

StarBoard:
True on the above point.
However,Anfield seems to invigorate those chaps.Especially when they seem to be out,like the City game on Wednesday.And United has never really played well at Anfield in recent memory.I hope they can get some sustained pressure to make the fatigue count.
But then again,Liverpool's home form has been dire.They seem to be draw specialists at Anfield this season.

goodsegs:
What do you mean by 'it must work"? He accepts his fate and fake the rest of the marriage?

I still strongly Believe that the decision to get tired is primarily an individual choice, If you really want something to work,You make it work.either marriage or relationship,

My ex girlfriend once complained that i was acting like i was tired of Her,And immediately she said that,I started doing things that i used to do when i first met her,and it worked even though she eventually broke my heart

norrisman:
Good, we are getting somehwere. You are begining to see that there is no such thing as a good terrorist. So if the govt can negotiate with MEND, a known terrorist group, I see no reason why they cant to the same with BH