What does the text reveal about the operations of cultural difference - the ways in which race, religion, class, gender, sexual orientation, cultural beliefs, and customs combine to form individual identity - in shaping our perceptions of ourselves, others, and the world in which we live?
What I really like about my book, Half a Yellow Sun, is how different the three perspectives it provides are. Ugwu shows the world through the eyes of someone who grew up poor and is observing the wealthy. Olanna shows the inner life of the wealthy, and Richard shows the perspective of a white man. Each of these three offer unique views on the same plot.
Ugwu's part, for me, is so far the least insightful in terms of postcolonial influence (at the same time, it is also my favorite part because I love seeing how he sees the world after coming from a rural background). Ugwu's parts focus a lot on his master's parties, which reveal a lot about politics in regards to Nigeria and the Europeans. The one point constantly emphasized is how many people are unhappy with the Europeans and believe Nigeria needs to govern and advance itself, because the Europeans aren't doing a satisfactory job helping them. From reading the book's summary I know the book is about the Nigerian struggle for independence, and Ugwu's parts do the best job of painting the simmering tensions in the country.
Olanna's parts reveal class and gender in 1960s Nigeria. Ugwu found straight wigs distasteful, but when Olanna goes to visit her ex, he tells her how she looks better with wigs on, and that her naturally styled hair makes her look like a poor person. This shows that while the Nigerian upper class may dislike European colonialism, their definitions of class and beauty have still been molded by them. Looking like a white woman is considered more beautiful (in terms of features-- I don't remember colorism being mentioned). The upper class drive sports car models that are luxurious in Europe, even if-- as Olanna's ex admits-- they aren't built to work well on African roads.
Richard's part is the one that has stood out to me the most; I found it really interesting to see how the White people regard the Africans, and the fact that Richard was just as uncomfortable as me made it easier to read. Richard's parts challenge some of Derrida's binary opposites. The man is White, while the woman (Kainene) is Black. However, Kainene is the richer of the two; Richard lives with her. Furthermore, the "colonizer" Richard is more child-like than Kainene: he is much shyer, doesn't smoke like she does, and struggles more with their intercourse. Both of them are shown to be just as rational and industrious. This sets up a nice juxtaposition where we see the White people in the book say certain things while the Black people are quite the opposite, which, once again, helps show the reasons behind the building tensions in the country.
