revision

Discuss Adichie’s presentation of Ugwu and consider his significance to the Novel
Half of a Yellow Sun initally depicts Ugwu as an innocent village boy but over the coarse of the novel his character noteably changes from the boy who keeps chicken wings in his pants to the new generation of Nigeria. Ugwu also portrays the middle and lower class of 1960’s Nigeria.
In terms of social order, Ugwu is in between lower and middle class. This is because he comes from a poor background, his family live in a village where they have “mudwalls” for houses. Initally when ugwu first arrives in Nsukka, the streets (to Ugwu) were “so smooth he itched to lay his cheeks on them”. This emphasises the difference in social structure but also where each class lives as Ugwu as never seen a road before. Ugwu also likes to preserve food, for example when he “slipped the pieces of chicken into his pocket” so that when his on aunts next visit he could give them to her to give to Anulika. His conservation of food come would because he grew up with very little.. Another lower class trait that Ugwu carries is his superstition. An example would be when Ugwu prevented Olanna from hitting a lizard. This was because hitting the lizard would result in a “stomachache”. Strangely enough, even though he does come from a low class family Ugwu has at least some form of education. Here Adichie uses Ugwu as a reminder that alot of Nigerians at that time could not read or write in english. Only those that were either middle or high class could afford it and so this makes Ugwu very significant in the novel as it is later revealed that he is the one who wrote the book. Ugwu’s loyalty and desire for knowledge makes the reader admire and apppreciate who is.
Ugwu’s character changed significantly by the end of the novel. The readers first impression of him was that he was very sexual. He would often have erotic fantasies of two particular people, Olanna and Nnesinachi. An example of one of his fantasy was when he would “suck on the chicken bones and imagine Olannas lips on them”. He also very much Objectifies Olanna, saying that she should be in a glass display for everyone. Objectification of women back in 1960s nigeria was very common. They were often treated second to men due to the fact that most women did not have a high level of education to get a job to take ownership of their life. Later on the novel after getting recruited by the army he is forced by the officers to rape a girl other wise they would kill him. The reader feels pity for Ugwu as his innocence does not match his actions. Adichie here reflects back on the war. People with moral had to do attroicious things in order to survive in order to survive in the time of war, even if it left a scar on their memory. Ultimately Ugwu is the voice of the lower and middle class people. He watched and experienced first hand the war and wrote everything down to get the story across.
In conclusion Ugwu is the representation of the middle and lower class people. His perespective gives insight to the reader of the the war.