Half of a Yellow Sun

This chapter opens with Ugwu being completely disgusted with the food rations that he and the others have received. He complains to Olanna about the terrible flavors of their flour and fish supplies as they are both in the kitchen, but Olanna responds that they should be thankful for having food in the first place. Olanna and Odenigbo are currently hosting visitors, including Special Julius. Julius describes how the Hausas have pillaged and raped their way through the western portions of Biafra, which horrifies Ugwu. 

Soon after this dinner party, Olanna describes to Ugwu that she intends to begin teaching classes out in their yard and that she would like Ugwu to help her with the teaching duties. Professor Ezeka, who is now the Biafran Directorate of Mobilization, drives up to the house one evening when both Odenigbo and Olanna are not home, and he leaves a letter for the couple before departing. After Ezeka leaves, Ugwu’s love interest Eberechi approaches Ugwu and says that it is very impressive that such an important man was just at his residence. Ugwu is terrified at finally talking with Eberechi, but they eventually decide to work on the local school’s roof together. 

As Ugwu and Eberechi begin working to camouflage the school’s roof, he finds it easier and easier to talk to her. Once they separate for the day, Ugwu is completely smitten with her. Several weeks later, after classes have begun at Olanna’s makeshift school, Ugwu has to fill in for Mrs. Muokelu’s lecture, as she has not yet returned from a dangerous supply run in Nigeria. Eberechi watches Ugwu teach, and she is impressed. The two have grown much closer over the past several days, and Ugwu is extremely angered when Eberechi tells him that she has been “offered” to a local Biafran officer. 

Another few days pass until a spurt of good news begins being passed around: Tanzania has recognized the sovereignty of Biafra. Ugwu visits Eberechi to share the political development with her, and after he tells her she flirtatiously pinches him in the neck. Ugwu loves Eberechi at this point in the narrative, and he is devastated when a soldier arrives and says that it is time for Eberechi to be “offered” to Major Nwogu. Eberechi visits Ugwu later that night, but he is disgusted with her and departs without saying much. 

Later, Ugwu is preparing a meal for Baby when Odenigbo arrives home. Olanna begins to berate to Ugwu for using kerosene while cooking, though this is unfair since she had previously requested that Ugwu use it. It becomes apparent that she is overstressed, as she conveys to Ugwu that Odenigbo is not talking to her. This upsets Ugwu, but he does not know how to respond. Odenigbo departs the next day in an effort to recover the corpse of his mother, even though Olanna has pleaded with him to stay. The chapter ends as night arrives and Olanna frets over the fact that Odenigbo has not yet returned home.  

This chapter utilizes the viewpoint of Richard. Richard’s houseboy Harrison arrives at his door covered in what appears to be blood, and Richard is horrified. Harrison quickly assures him that it is only beet juice and that he had to use it earlier in order to flee amongst women and children. Harrison also assures Richard that he has preserved a copy of his tentative manuscript by burying it on Richard’s property. As the chapter progresses, it is revealed that Madu has been making use of Richard’s writing abilities to produce propaganda pieces for Biafra, though Madu has only employed Richard because of the global credibility that comes with his “whiteness.” 

As the weeks pass, Richard produces multiple articles regarding massacres that the Nigerians have recently conducted against the Igbos of Biafra, and he gains the praise of many of Biafra’s leaders, such as Colonel Ojukwu. Richard is hesitant to leave Port Harcourt as he fears the Nigerians may attack it soon, but he heads out to a town called Uli in order to document a recent Nigerian air raid. Upon arriving in Uli, Richard meets a Swedish aristocrat named Count Von Rosen who has been flying his own plane for the Biafran war effort. The Count quickly leaves on his next mission, and after a bit more research Richard begins to return home. 

Madu warns Richard to be alert as English people have been attacked recently in Biafra. Richard lays low for several days, but as the combat of the war seems to encroach closer and closer to home with each passing day, Richard and Kainene decide to flee to Orlu, where they are building a new house. As the couple and their entourage are evacuating the city, a Nigerian air raid begins and kills their houseboy Ikejide right before their eyes. 

The couple arrives in Orlu after the air raid, but they find that their home’s construction is not yet completed. As the days pass, Olanna takes up an increasingly important role in the city as its main food organizer. The chapter ends when one of the injured patients at Orlu spits at a non-Igbo doctor who is monitoring them, prompting Olanna to smack the rude patient in the face. 

This chapter is told through the lens of Olanna. Odenigbo has taken to drinking in the wake of burying his mother, and he has become extremely withdrawn from Olanna. The poet-turned-soldier Okeoma pays Odenigbo a visit, and the two men spend the early evening drinking whiskey together. Later, a Professor Achara pays the couple a visit and notifies them that they must move out of their residence within two weeks, as the homeowner has discovered another tenant that is willing to pay a much higher rent. 

The family quickly finds a new residence, though it consists of only a lone room with no electricity. Olanna meets one of her new neighbors, Mama Oji, who tells alone to be careful as many tenants within the building are desperate and would be willing to resort to theft. Olanna occasionally hears someone playing a piano, and Mama Oji says that the player is a woman named Alice who is very reserved and hermit-like. Olanna tries to introduce herself to Alice, but the small and strange woman has nothing to say. 

Olanna comes home one day and finds Odenigbo sobbing over the death of his mother. Olanna is surprised when he claims he has been considering joining the Biafran military, but Olanna tells him it is a death wish. Odenigbo makes up his mind that he will channel his energies into building a new community bunker instead. Word arrives that the Biafran military has achieved victory in a town called Abagana, and thus the general mood of Orlu improves. Professor Ezeka sends over various food items to the couple, and Olanna gives some of these items to Mama Adanna, as her child is dying of malnutrition. 

Sometime later, Olanna is extremely surprised to find that Kainene has arrived to visit her. It is awkward at first, but then the two sisters warm up to each other and discuss their lives openly. After chatting for a long time, Kainene proposes that Olanna should soon visit the refugee camp that Kainene is currently managing. Several days later Olanna makes good on this offer and visits Kainene and her camp. It is a tragic setting, as many people there are dying of starvation and malnutrition. After walking the grounds, the two sisters leave the camp holding hands, and the chapter ends. 

This chapter is conveyed through the viewpoint of Ugwu. Ugwu explicitly disobeys Olanna’s command to stay inside and begins wandering the streets of their new village, but he is caught by a group of soldiers and is forced to join the Biafran military. Olanna realizes what has happened, and thus she negotiates with an officer and secures Ugwu’s release. She is extremely angry at Ugwu, as she has had to spend her last bit of cash to free him, but her irritation quickly subsides. Several days later Erebechi is visiting with Ugwu when he finally builds up the courage to kiss her, though he eventually slips off her underwear as well. Erebechi states that she must leave, and Ugwu walks her home. On the way to her house, a van drive by and several soldiers jump out and proceed to kidnap Ugwu. 

The commander of the soldiers is a young teenager who goes by the nom de guerre of High-Tech. High-Tech explains that Ugwu will now be participating in reconnaissance and mining operations. Ugwu corrects the young soldier’s mispronunciation of “reconnaissance,” and thus High-Tech becomes impressed with Ugwu. They finally arrive at their training camp, and it is in disrepair. Ugwu spends his days thinking of Eberechi and reading Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. High-Tech comes to befriend Ugwu, and the commander sneaks food to his new friend when possible. 

Ugwu distinguishes himself in his military operation, as he blows up a mine just when a group of Nigerian soldiers are passing. He and his compatriots loot the bodies, and Ugwu gains the nom de guerre of Target Destroyer. After returning to camp, the group steals a car from a group of civilians and drives over to a nearby bar. Ugwu smacks High-Tech for using a page from his book to roll a cigarette, and goes outside to use the bathroom. When he returns, Ugwu sees the other soldiers are raping one of the employees of the bar. They taunt him to join him, and Ugwu rapes the girl. 

Weeks pass, and Ugwu becomes more and more burned out as he participates in more and more military operations. A significant blow is dealt to Biafra when Nigerian forces capture its capital of Umuahia, devastating the morale of all Biafran soldiers. The chapter closes with Ugwu being pinned down in a trench with his commander Ohaeto when a piece of shrapnel slices through him, causing him to fall unconscious. 

Richard provides the viewpoint of this chapter. He is traveling with two American journalists who have come to report on the ongoing civil war. One is overweight, and the other is redheaded. Richard does not like these reporters, as he finds them to be extremely petty, racist, and insensitive. They want to know about the lone incident of a white person dying in the war, even though countless African lives are being lost to combat and starvation each passing day. “Is it possible to see where the Biafran soldiers shot the Italian oil worker?” asks one of them (462). Instead, Richard shows them around a camp of Biafran refugees, and the Americans are disgusted by the conditions. 

One of the journalists is amazed at the fervent ideology of one of the Igbo refugees, and they remark that the Biafran government is doing a great job of disseminating propaganda. Richard corrects the man by saying that people here are legitimately angry, as their families and loved ones have been massacred in the war. Richard takes the journalists to the airport, and just as they arrive a plane begins firing upon the airstrip. Before they leave, Richard presses the journalists on the fact that America has abandoned the Biafrans, but the redheaded journalist simply replies that there are people all over the world that are currently being killed. It is at this moment that Richard decides to name the novel that he is working on The World Was Silent When We Died. 

The chapter closes with another segment from The World Was Silent When We Died. The epilogue of Richard’s novel is modeled after one of Okeoma’s verses; the poem describes Biafran children who are swollen in starvation and Western tourists who look on at this tragedy callously.