Half of A Yellow Sun: Chimamanda Adiechi Should have a Rethink

I have been an ardent consumer of Adichie's literary works; for, it is deemed mandatory to state this right from the outset otherwise the point intended will be termed sort of bunkum. In fact, I am privileged to peruse almost all her collections available in the bookshops; 'Purple Hibiscus', 'Americana', 'Half of a Yellow Sun', Thing around your neck,   'We Should all be Feminist' (name it). More so, currently, I am working on a paper entitled "Feminism or Womanism: A Look at Nigeria's Feminists' Writing", and Adichie's "Thing around your neck" is among my consideration. With this, I know my readers are convinced that I don't have any grudge regarding her writings. But Literature is only worthy when criticism is leveled for or against it. As I contend ab initio 'Half of a Yellow Sun' is full of sentiment, bias, and pacts of lies. My anachronistic argument regarding the novel relies on the crunt central theme with which the novel was cremated. The novel blamed northerners as responsible for massive massacres and/or starvation of the great Igbos amidst Biafra's struggle for succession.

This blame game, as I often thought might not take us to the promised land. I also thought that Nigeria's literati would focus on the contemporary issues bedeviling this great country rather than talking about our regretted past. That our theme would begin to emphasize good governance, importance of unity, economic improvements as well as political resuscitation (among others). Contrarily, a young Igbo novelist by name of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie staggered to write on the Nigeria / Biafra's war. In the novel she laments with vituperative outbursts that Northern Soldiers were responsible for the death of their brothers and sisters in the so-called Biafra. Its a novel I read with a heavy heart. Its indeed disheartening that a novel of 21st century still talks of Biafra's succession. Chimamanda should have a rethink. For I read somewhere that literature of whatever century should address issues relevant to it. Nigeria's literature should concentrate on the present problems facing us. We are tired of reading about Biafran War. In fact "Half of a Yellow Sun" is a waste of time. A novel that should not have breathed the serene air of the day. 

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Muhammad Badamasi TSAURE
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