Half of a Yellow Sun

Olanna is the London-educated sibling of Kainene, and she is one of the two sisters around whom the entire novel revolves. Olanna’s parents are wealthy and out of touch with the lives of ordinary Nigerians, and this causes her to grow apart from her parents more and more. In the early stages of the novel, Olanna and Odenigbo enter a courtship, and she is completely infatuated with his academic intelligence and his political notions. The couple eventually marries, and Olanna gives birth to a child that they refer to as “Baby.” Odenigbo’s mother despises Olanna, as his mother is a tribal woman who disdains Olanna’s seemingly European sensibilities. The mother brings a woman named Amala over to Odenigbo’s house, which serves as the catalyst for an affair. Olanna leaves Odenigbo for a time, and during their time apart she has sex with Richard, who is dating Kainene. This makes Olanna’s relationship with her sister even frostier than it already was, though she does not regret upsetting Odenigbo. As the Nigerian Civil War progresses, Olanna amends her relationships with Odenigbo and Kainene, and she takes an active role in the local refugee camp and school. After Kainene disappears, Olanna spends her days ruminating on her sister’s whereabouts. In the end, Olanna simply concludes that she will see her sister again in her next life, as Kainene never returns.

Kainene is Olanna’s cynical and sarcastic sister. She is distant from her sister for most of the novel, and it is portrayed that Kainene is jealous of Olanna. Regardless, at the beginning of the novel, Kainene is a successful businesswoman in the city of Port Harcourt, and she meets Richard at a party where several European expatriates have gathered. The two hit it off very quickly, and in just a matter of days Richard leaves his girlfriend in order to be with Kainene. The two grow very close, but their relationship is jeopardized when Olanna seduces Richard after her falling out with Odenigbo. Kainene considers leaving Richard, but she settles for destroying the manuscript that he has been working on. As the Nigerian Civil War progresses, Kainene takes a leadership role in the local refugee camp and is responsible for overseeing its operations. Towards the end of the novel, Kainene ignores everyone’s warnings and travels to Nigeria to collect much needed food supplies. Tragically, Kainene never returns, and the novel’s remaining protagonists are left to anguish and wonder futilely what ultimately befell Kainene. 

At the start of the novel, Odenigbo is an esteemed professor of mathematics at Nsukka University. He comes to represent the patriotic fervor that spread through the Igbos of Southeast Nigeria in the buildup to and fighting of the war, and he is ardently revolutionary through the first phase of the book. Before the war starts, Odenigbo is constantly inviting intellectual guests over to jest and debate the political realities of Africa and the world, and these meetings become quite popular. After the Biafran secession, Odenigbo is the staunchest supporter of the Igbos’ cause. But, as the war progresses and more and more massacres occur, Odenigbo loses his zeal and patriotism and he turns to alcohol to soothe his despondency. Once the war is ended and the Biafrans lose, Odenigbo returns to Nsukka to find his apartment ransacked. At the close of the novel, he attempts the difficult task of picking back up where his academic career left off.