105 pages 3 hours read

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Half of a Yellow Sun

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2006

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Chapters 19-24 Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part Three: "The Early Sixties"

Chapter 19 Summary

Part Three of the book begins where the events of Part One ended, and we are given the tale through the viewpoint of Ugwu. Richard’s houseboy Harrison and Ugwu are having a conversation regarding tear gas; Ugwu has heard that tear gas can be used to make people fall unconscious, and thus he wants to obtain some to use on Nnesinachi when he returns to his home village of Opi with Richard for the upcoming ori-okpa festival. 

After realizing Harrison is of no help to him, he asks Richard’s gardener Jomo if he knows what tear gas is. Jomo giggles and tells Ugwu that if the girl likes him then he should just wait and make a move at the right moment. Ugwu takes this to heart, and soon thereafter he and Richard arrive back in his home village, though upon arriving he is extremely upset to find out that Nnesinachi left to go visit northern Nigeria several days ago.

After Richard finishes documenting Opi’s ori-okpa festival, Ugwu and his expatriate companion promptly return back to Nsukka. Once there, Ugwu is surprised to find Odenigbo’s mother there, and she quickly sends the houseboy away in light of the fact that she intends to cook that night.