Table of Contents
Half of a Yellow Sun Summary: Chapter 7
Chapter 7 of Half of a Yellow Sun begins a new section of the book entitled The Late Sixties.
The Chapter begins with Ugwu visiting his family in the village and talking to his sister Anulika.
Anulika, who Ugwu suspects is pregnant, is set to marry Onyeka, a mechanic who works in town.
Ugwu has become used to his life in Nsukka and sees his old home through new eyes, evidenced in, for instance, that he now finds the food there unpalatable.
On the day that he returns to Odenigbo and Olanna’s home in Nsukka, a military coup takes place in Nigeria.
The academics who visit Odenigbo and Olanna’s home that evening seem in support of the coup because they think it will put a stop to government corruption as well as to north Nigerian supremacy.
This support is unanimous, despite those present coming from different parts of Nigeria.
Half of a Yellow Sun Summary: Chapter 8
In Chapter 8, Olanna visits Kano to pick up her pregnant cousin Arize to go shopping in Lagos for her soon-to-be-born baby.
In Kano, people around Olanna’s uncle and aunt’s compound are happy about the new political developments, particularly the death of the Sardauna, the premier of the North and Muslim spiritual leader.
Some of his followers, though, reluctant to believe that he is actually dead, believe instead that he escaped safely to Mecca.
Things continue to be tense between Olanna and Kainene.
In Lagos, Olanna and Arize witness Igbos being attacked for their ethnicity.
They pretend that they themselves are not Igbo and instead speak loud Yoruba as the make a quick getaway.
It turns out that this has been happening commonly in northern Nigeria because the coup that took place has been being called an Igbo coup.
Half of a Yellow Sun Summary: Chapter 9
In Chapter 9 of Half a Yellow Sun, a second coup takes place in Nigeria, 6 months after the first coup.
When word of a possible second coup begins to go around, Olanna and Kainene’s parents plan to go to London to avoid it.
Before the coup, Richard and Colonel Madu have a bit of an argument with Richard talking about the possibility of a second coup and Colonel Madu saying that there would be no second coup.
The second coup does indeed take place finding Colonel Madu in Kaduna, northern Nigeria.
During this second coup, North Nigerian officers take command and kill Igbo officers.
Kainene worries that Colonel Madu has been killed.
For more than two weeks, no one hears from Colonel Madu.
He eventually appears at Kainene’s house and tells Kainene and Richard that he was tipped off by a military friend of his who was in the know about the coup before it happened.
This friend helps Colonel Madu hide and escape to safety.
Half of a Yellow Sun Summary: Chapter 10
Igbos continue to be slaughtered in the north of Nigeria.
Some kinsmen of Odenigbo arrive at his home telling him of the horrors they’ve seen elsewhere in the country.
While tales of the attacks are being aired on ENBC Radio Enugu, there is a call for good Samaritans to take tea and bread to railway stations because people are arriving en masse there for safety.
Ugwu takes tea and bread to the closest railway station and indeed finds people in horrific states, including a man with a knife wound in the head and another whose right eye has been gouged out.
Half of a Yellow Sun Summary: Chapter 11
Olanna was with Mohammed in Kano, when they receive news of the attacks on Igbos.
Sule, Mohammed’s gateman, informs them that dead bodies are strewn along the road.
Mohammed rushes to get Olanna on a train but she insists to first pass by her Uncle’s house in Sabon Gari.
There she finds that her aunt and uncle have been slaughtered by, among others, Abdulmalik, her uncle’s friend.
Olanna is keen to go check on Arize but when men with metal blades arrive in the compound, the pair have no choice but to drive off and get Olanna to the train station as quickly as possible.
On the train, Olanna sits next to a woman carrying a little girl’s head in a calabash (presumably it is her daughter’s head that has been severed).
Eventually the train crosses the Niger River and reaches safe terrain.
Half of a Yellow Sun Summary: Chapter 12
In Chapter 12 of Half a Yellow Sun, Richard arrives back in Nigeria from London. He stops in Kano to change flights to Lagos.
While at the airport, three soldiers burst into the airport and kill a young Igbo customs officer-in-training that Richard had been speaking to only a short while prior.
They also kill the bartender at the airport and pull out Igbo passengers that had already boarded an airplane and execute them on the tarmac.
Richard manages to leave Kano and arrive in Lagos.
Before all this happens, at the beginning of the chapter, Richard reads a love note from Kainene and decides to propose to her. He is sure she will say yes.
Chapter 13
In Chapter 13 of Half a Yellow Sun, Olanna returns home to Nsukka after witnessing horrors in Kano and on her journey back.
She is traumatized and her legs fail, so she is unable to walk.
She begins to have mental health issues, which Adichie refers to as Dark Swoops.
Her parents and, most notably, Kainene come to visit her.
Eventually Olanna begins to walk again.
In this Chapter, Eastern Nigeria secedes under the leadership of Colonel Ojukwu to become The Republic of Biafra (named after the Bight of Biafra bay).
The Biafrans are elated and commemorate this with rallies to celebrate this new beginning.
Chapter 14
The Biafrans continue to be elated about their new independance, Richard included, but they also seem to be aware of the possibility of impending war.
In Nsukka, Richard bumps into Olanna at a seminar entitled “In Case of War” and she asks about Kainene.
Richard is flabbergasted at how the international press covers the occurrences in Nigeria, and he submits a piece clarifying some misconceptions including the British involvement in the ethic animosity between northern Nigeria and the Igbo.
Colonel Ojukwu makes a surprise visit to the campus in Nsukka and everyone is excited about it. Those present call for war asking him to give them guns to avenge their dead.
Chapter 15
At the beginning of Chapter 15, the reader gets a sense of the food shortages taking place in Biafra.
Unlike when the refugees from the north first began to arrive, people are no longer donating food as they used too. Odenigbo refuses to believe this, thinking that the donations are being misappropriated.
Tensions are high in Nsukka and there is talk of looming war. People begin to leave Nsukka, but Odenigbo and Olanna’s household stay put.
Ugwu’s aunt comes to inform him that his sister Anulika is soon to be married and that her wine-carrying ceremony date has been set.
Before this happens, the Nigerian army invades the Nsukka campus and Olanna, Odenigbo, Baby and Ugwu are forced to flee. They flee to Abba, Odenigbo’s home town.
Chapter 16
The Nigerian federal government has declared a “police action to bring the rebels to order”.
Kainene recommends that Richard gets his things from Nsukka (as well as Harrison) and brings them to Port Harcourt.
On his way to Nsukka he encounters a road block where he is instructed to return from whence he came because Nsukka is not safe.
He tells the men at the roadblock that he works at the university in Nsukka and wants to get his things and his houseboy.
When they suspect him of being an agent of the Nigerian government, he quickly counters in Igbo that he is Biafran and that he learned Igbo from his wife.
He returns to Port Harcourt.
In Port Harcourt, Richard and Kainene discuss the civil war. He is very much in support of the cause while she sees the war as an exercise in extortion by the military.
Chapter 17
Odenigbo, Olanna, Ugwu and Baby acclimatize to life in Abba. Especially, they join in with the rest of the community to support the war effort.
Olanna joins other village women in sewing towels and singlets for soldiers while Odenigbo is soon to start a job at the Manpower Directorate in Umuahia.
A village meeting is to take place in Abba and when Odenigbo asks Olanna if she will be attending, she reminds him that she cannot since she is not an official resident of Abba.
He quickly asks her to marry him, and Olanna accepts, contrary to her previous reservations against marriage.
Olanna’s mother comes to visit and offers Olanna a paid way out of the country for one.
Olanna declines and says she will stay with Odenigbo and Baby.
Olanna is summoned to her grandfather’s compound in Umunnachi, where she is asked to tell her extended family what happened to her aunt, uncle, and cousin Arize in Kano.
She relays to her extended family that they were all killed in the massacres.
Chapter 18
Chapter 18 of “Half of a Yellow Sun” focuses on the continued escalation of conflict in Nigeria and the experiences of the characters as they navigate the war.
The chapter opens with a description of the growing violence and destruction caused by the war, as well as the growing sense of desperation and hopelessness among the characters.
Throughout the chapter, Adichie uses the experiences of the characters to explore themes of loss, sacrifice, and the impact of war on individuals and communities.
The chapter also highlights the courage and bravery of the characters as they struggle to survive in the face of the growing violence and destruction.
In conclusion, Chapter 18 of “Half of a Yellow Sun” provides a deeper understanding of the impact of war on the characters and the larger society.
It also underscores the larger themes of loss, sacrifice, and the impact of conflict that will be explored throughout the rest of the book.
Chapter 19
Chapter 19 of “Half of a Yellow Sun” focuses on the ongoing conflict in Nigeria and the experiences of the characters as they navigate the war.
The chapter opens with a description of the worsening situation in the country, as the war between different ethnic groups becomes more brutal and destructive.
Throughout the chapter, Adichie uses the experiences of the characters to explore themes of trauma, grief, and the impact of war on individuals and communities.
The chapter also highlights the strength and resilience of the characters as they struggle to cope with the loss and destruction caused by the war.
In conclusion, Chapter 19 of “Half of a Yellow Sun” provides a deeper understanding of the impact of war on the characters and the larger society.
It also underscores the larger themes of trauma, grief, and the impact of conflict that will be explored throughout the rest of the book.
Chapter 20
Chapter 20 begins with Olanna, at her parents’ home, just back from London, having been told by her gynecologist that there are no physical reasons for her infertility.
Olanna’s mother tells her of her father’s mistress and Olanna promises to speak to him about it, which she does.
She then returns to Nsukka where she finds Odenigbo’s mother and her helper, Amala, at Odenigbo’s home.
She notices the body language between Odenigbo and Amala and becomes suspicious that something sexual happened between them. When she confronts him, he says nothing but cannot deny it.
When he finally does admit to it, telling Olanna that he was drunk and that Amala forced herself on him, Olanna goes to Kano to seek comfort in her cousin Arize.
Eventually Olanna returns to Nsukka but not to Odenigbo’s home. Odenigbo then tells her that Amala is pregnant by him.
One day, she runs into Richard at a supermarket, buys two bottles of wine and invites him to share them with her in her flat.
One things leads to another and Richard and Olanna have sex.
Chapter 21
Richard and Olanna wake up the next morning and do not speak about what happened the night before. Richard determines that Kainene will never find out.
That weekend, Richard does not go to Port Harcourt as usual but instead goes to Lagos to attend a memorial for Winston Churchill at the British High Commission.
At that event, he sits with Susan, who tells him that she had an affair with a close friend’s husband, that she has heard about his Nigerian girlfriend, and is generally disparaging things about Nigerians.
Chapter 22
Odenigbo’s mother and Amala come to visit Odenigbo.
His mother is happy about her soon to be grandchild, but Odenigbo and Ugwu are not.
Odenigbo tells his mother that Amala cannot stay at his home because he hopes that Olanna will come back.
Amala tries to induce an abortion of her pregnancy by eating a lot of peppers.
Olanna comes to visit Odenigbo and they have a lover’s spat. She says that Odenigbo must take responsibility for his actions, but he still blames the occurrence on his mother’s machinations.
Ugwu tells Olanna that he did indeed see Odenigbo’s mother put something in Odenigbo’s food as well as rub something on Amala’s body before the incident.
Although, Olanna dismisses what Ugwu has told her as rubbish, she and Odenigbo have sex.
Chapter 23
Olanna and Richard decide not to tell anyone what happened between them, but then Olanna tells Odenigbo.
Odenigbo asks Richard not to come by his house again.
Amala gives birth to a baby girl and neither Amala nor Odenigbo’s mother want to keep the child.
Olanna decides that she and Odenigbo will keep the child, much to Olanna’s Mom and Kainene’s consternation.
Richard eventually also tells Kainene what happened between him and Olanna. Kainene tells Olanna that what she did was unforgivable.
Chapter 24
It turns out that Richard did not tell Kainene about what happened between him and Olanna voluntarily.
Rather, he ended up telling her because Harrison mentioned the rift between Odenigbo and Richard and Kainene asked more about it.
Of course, Kainene is angry at Richard, and all Richard hopes is that she will not end their relationship.
Olanna, along with Odenigbo, comes to Port Harcourt to seek forgiveness from Kainene. She is not willing to forgive.
In vengence, Kainene burns Richard’s manuscript of The Basket of Hands.
Richard is somewhat relieved by this because he reasons that if Kainene took the time to hurt him, then she would not be ending the relationship.
Chapter 25
The war continues to rage on and supplies in Biafra are low.
Baby gets sick but the antibiotics she needs are unavailable.
Olanna asks her friend Mrs. Muokelu to help her source some, which she does.
Baby stops eating and Olanna and Odenigbo fear that she might die. Eventually Mrs. Muokelu brings Baby some dried egg yolk to eat and Baby loves it.
Olanna then begins going to the relief center to get food, especially the dried egg yolk. Rations are low and its tricky to get what she came for.
The supervisor at the relief center, Okoromadu, recognizes Olanna from before the war and remembers a good deed she did for his mother.
He helps Olanna to get the rations she needs that are not available to others.
One day he gives her a tin of corned beef that gets forcefully stolen from her by a group of five men. Olanna is emotionally fatigued by the war.
There are a lot of air raids in the area and Olanna lives in constant fear, until one day the futility of it all gets her mad and then she starts to fight back.
Chapter 26
The war rages on, and the school in Nsukka is converted to a refugee camp. Ugwu becomes enamored with a girl who lives nearby called Eberechi.
Because the school no longer operates, Olanna, Mrs. Muokelu, and Ugwu start a school in Olanna and Odenigbo’s compound.
Baby is in the youngest class in that makeshift school, and Ugwu is her teacher.
Eberechi seems to have a lover in the army and Ugwu is jealous.
Odenigbo’s mother is shot and killed in Abba, and Odenigbo ventures on occupied roads to go bury her.
The chapter ends with Olanna lamenting what she will do because no one knows if Odenigbo is safe.
Chapter 27
Kainene buys a house in Orlu from a school principal whose school has also been turned into a refugee camp. There is talk of Port Harcourt being captured but the Biafrans stay positive that Port Harcourt will not fall.
Harrison makes his way from Nsukka to Port Harcourt by pretending to have been injured in an air raid. He tells Richard that he has buried his manuscript of In the Time of Roped Pots in a box in the yard in Nsukka.
Madu asks Richard to write stories about what is going on in Biafra for the international press.
At first, Richard wants to refuse because the request is from Madu, but eventually he accepts and is proud to be part of the war effort.
Port Harcourt is indeed attacked and as Kainene’s household prepares to run away to Orlu, they watch as Ikejide’s (one of her domestic staff’s) head is blown off by shrapnel from the air raid.
After burying Ikejide, the household moves to Orlu where Kainene begins to work with the refugee camp. She also suddenly has a desire to see Olanna, even though she has not been responding to the letters Olanna had sent her until then.
Chapter 28
Chapter 28 of “Half of a Yellow Sun” focuses on the increasing violence and instability in the region as the Biafran War continues.
Olanna is still trying to secure Odenigbo’s release from prison and becomes involved in the efforts of the Biafran government to secure food and supplies for the people.
Meanwhile, Ugwu continues to work for Odenigbo, but begins to question his own beliefs and the political situation in the region.
He becomes disillusioned with the Biafran government and the corruption and violence he witnesses.
The chapter also explores the relationship between Ugwu and Olanna, as Ugwu begins to see Olanna as a maternal figure and turns to her for comfort and support.
The chapter ends with the city of Nsukka being bombed by the Nigerian army, forcing the residents to flee for their lives.
Chapter 29
One day, as Ugwu is returning home from accompanying Eberechi, he is forcedly conscripted into the Biafran army.
There he meets, among others, a young boy nicknamed High-Tech, who does reconnaissance missions for the Biafran army.
Ugwu gets experience of the war at the frontline and blows up some Nigerian soldiers with a land mine. His fellow soldiers nickname him Target Destroyer.
At a bar where Ugwu and his fellow soldiers go to let off steam, they–Ugwu included–gang rape the bar maid.
The chapter ends with Ugwu being hurt in battle.
Chapter 30
In Chapter 30, Richard acts as a guide to two foreign journalists (both named Charles). He is flabbergasted by their attitudes towards Biafra and the war.
After he witnesses relief planes delivering relief supplies to Biafra, Richard decides that after the war he will write a book entitled “The World Was Silent When We Died”, a narrative of Biafra’s difficult victory and an indictment of the world.
The format of the book Half of a Yellow Sun is such that its chapters are interspersed with sections about a book entitled “The World Was Silent When We Died”.
Chapter 31
In Chapter 31, Olanna receives a packet of supplies from Mohammed and shares some of them with her neighbors.
Mama Oji warns Olanna about Alice and mentions how much time she spends with Odenigbo. Olanna begins to become suspicious that the two are having an affair.
Kainene brings Olanna news of Ugwu’s death, and Olanna is devasted.
Umuahia is attacked and Olanna, Kainene, and Baby go to live with Kainene and Richard in Orlu.
In Orlu, Olanna and Odenigbo learn of Okeoma’s death. Again, they are devasted.
The relationship between Richard and Odenigbo continues to be tense. Meanwhile, Odenigbo continues to drink heavily.
Chapter 32
In Chapter 32, the reader learns that Ugwu is not actually dead but instead was saved by some infantrymen. He is injured though.
In a hospital, Ugwu encounters a priest called Father Damian who knows Olanna and Odenigbo from Nsukka. Father Damian sends word to them that Ugwu is alive and where to find him.
Richard comes to get Ugwu and takes him to Orlu where Ugwu gets better and then begins to help in the refugee camp.
Much of Chapter 32 is told from Ugwu’s perspective. The reader gets a sense of how bad things continue to be during the war. Also, Ugwu is greatly perturbed by his past actions, i.e., the rape of the girl in the bar.
Chapter 33
Chapter 33 begins with Kainene telling Odenigbo, Richard, and Olanna that she plans to trade across enemy lines. Odenigbo warns her that this is dangerous, but Kainene insists that she will do so the following day.
Indeed Kainene goes to Ninth Mile to buy something things but does not return after several days.
Of course, this worries her household, and eventually Richard and Olanna go to Ninth Mile in search of her but no one seems to have seen her so they return home.
Chapter 34
After a week, Kainene has still not been found. Richard and Olanna look for her at hospitals and in morgues. Still nothing.
The war ends with Biafra surrendering. Contrary to Olanna’s wishes, she, Odenigbo, Ugwu and Baby return to Nsukka via Abba so that Odenigbo can see where his mother was laid to rest.
Olanna leaves a note in Kainene’s home in Orlu saying that she will be back in a week to check if Kainene has returned.
Richard and Harrison head out to Ninth Mile in search of Kainene.
On the way to Nsukka, Olanna, Odenigbo, Ugwu and Baby are stopped by Nigerian soldiers. The adults are made to do some manual labour and then thy are left to continue on their journey.
Chapter 35
Olana, Odenigbo, Ugwu and Baby finally arrive at their home in Nsukka, which they find in disarray. Books and papers have been burned including some of Odenigbo’s research.
Ugwu goes to see his family, who are shocked to see him since they thought he was dead.
There, he learns that his mother died from coughing and that his sister had been gang-raped by 5 soldiers.
Olanna and Richard continue to seach for Kainene to no avail.
The chapter ends with Richard telling Ugwu that he plans to travel to Lagos, passing by Umuahia, and accepts to carry a letter to Eberechi from Ugwu.
Chapter 36
At Kainene’s mother’s request, Richard goes to Kainene’s house in Port Harcourt. There he finds that a squatter has taken posession of the house and will not allow Richard in.
In Lagos, Richard visits Kainene’s parents who have returned from the U.K. There he gets into a fight with Madu over whether or not Madu and Kainene were ever lovers.
It is in Lagos, that reality sets in for Richard. He will never see Kainene again.
Chapter 37
Chapter 37 is about Olanna coming to terms with her twin’s disappearance.
At the beginning of the chapter, she meets with her parents who keep telling her that Kainene will be found.
But as she is not found, and life around her seems to be getting back to normal, Olanna becomes increasingly desparate.
She has her Uncle consult a dibia (a traditional “Master of knowledge/wisdom”) and does as he instructs, to no avail: Kainene is not found.
At the end of the chapter, Olanna tells Odenigbo that Kainene will be her sister in her next life, seemingly having made peace with the fact that they will not meet again in this one.
The very last section of Half a Yellow Sun is an 8th section about The Book: The World Was Silent.
In it, you realize that it is was actually Ugwu and not Richard who ended up writing a book with that title.