Compared to Purple Hibiscus

Characters in Half of a Yellow Sun play different roles than what the characters did in Purple Hibiscus. The way the main characters were portrayed and the social issues that were discussed. 

Point of View

First, Adichie decides to take the opposite direction in point of view compare to her first novel being in first person. With a third person omniscient point of view, Adichie uses it to better describe the novel's historical references, especially references about the Biafran War from 1967 to 1970. I also liked how she switched up what kind of fiction she was writing about. Purple Hibiscus was more on the simple side when it comes to structure, but Adichie definitely played with structure in her second novel.

Time Period

There's is a different style with historical fiction compared to regular fiction. Time period plays a bigger role in historical fiction. The year the story Purple Hibiscus takes place in was not significant to the story at all. That was actually one of the few items based on the novel that I could not figure out. On the other hand, Half of a Yellow Sun is all about the time period. The time in which each character spoke about a certain part of the war was important. Although the characters seem different, both novels showed the world through at least one teenager. In Purple Hibiscus, Kambili was 15 years old and 13-year-old Ugwu in Half of a Yellow Sun. Adichie uses a teenager to get the social aspect of the story because teenagers are the lively ones when it comes to social influences.  

Social Issues

Social issues have a huge impact on Adichie's novel subjects and themes. In Purple Hibiscus, religion was used to address issues like rebellion and hope. Similarly, the Igbo were viewed as rebellious in the Biafran War and held a strong resistance caused by hope. However, religion was a minor role in Adichie's second novel compared to her first. Something both novels have in common is Adichie always places a hiatus between the social classes. Kambili's family was rich in the first novel with Aunt Ifeoma's house being poor. Now, Ugwu was poor and moved into a house with nicer items, and Olanna came from a wealthy British family. This quality adds a form of a social issue in her novels since the books have to deal with characters reaching out of their comfort zone to feel the opposite side of the social class level. These gaps can also help create a balance between upper classes and lower classes.