Gender Roles and Patriarchy Reflected in Half of a Yellow Sun

Abstract

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's second novel Half of a Yellow Sun emphasises the need for change and contests the dominant power structures that continue to oppress women. The purpose of this article is to dispel long-held prejudices and societal expectations about gender roles that have permeated people's minds. The norm is male domination, and women frequently experience different types of discrimination and unequal treatment. Adichie emulates earlier African feminists like Flora Nwapa and Buchi Emecheta, who aimed to topple the established order symbolised by figures like Chief Ozobia and his wife, through Olanna's acts of self-emancipation. Olanna's resistance is a subversive effort to confront and alter the patriarchal objectification of women and the economic exploitation of women. The fact that feminism views education as a potent instrument for releasing women from oppressive patriarchal structures is repeatedly highlighted throughout the story of the novel.