For more than decades, the African continent has been no stranger to being colonized by European countries, which soon led to it being called "the race for Africa". Colonialism is the act of conquering another country and gaining political control and authority, ultimately exploiting the country's resources. Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960, but British involvement continued until the end of the Biafran War. This is significant as the misfortunes that occurred as a result of the civil war are the direct cause of colonialism as well as Britain's selfishness and desire for resources, ultimately leading to the loss of lives of innocent civilians. In Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells the story of the civil war through a group of individuals with diverse backgrounds and their struggles with war, identity, and colonialism. The legacy of colonialism through the book has altered identity, language and created ethnic tensions within Nigeria. Adichie argues that colonialism will always distance individuals from their roots. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The idea of ​​identity within the novel is constantly challenged by colonialism. In the novel, the characters come from different walks of life, which results in different beliefs due to their identities and how they were raised. An example of this can be seen after Ugwu had burned Odenigbo's socks: “His chest felt heavy; he didn't know why he ironed the socks, why he didn't just make the safari suit. Evil spirits, that's it. The evil spirits made him do it.” Through this quote, we can sense a difference in the superstitious and religious beliefs of Ugwu and Odenigbo. Both are Igbo, but one lives in a world full of “evil spirits” while the other does not believe in any kind of religion. After burning Odenigbo's sock, Ugwu is convinced that evil spirits made him iron his sock, which ultimately worries him at the thought of Odenigbo sending him home. For this reason, Ugwu seeks out a special herb called arigbe which is used to "soften a man's heart". Adichie uses parallelism to show how different Odenigbo and Ugwu are; As said again, both are Nigerians except they were raised in a different way as Ugwu never had the opportunity of a full education compared to Odenigbo who is a well educated university professor. Because of this, the two have different belief systems and see the world in opposite ways. Ugwu is superstitious and believes in the power of magical herbs and spirits while on the other hand we have Odenigbo, who has freed himself from ancient traditions. He calls Ugwu an "ignorant fool", most likely because Ugwu is uneducated and knows nothing. Achichie's underlying idea is that the environment can influence one's belief system more than some would be persuaded to believe. Additionally, identity is maintained for some characters within the book. Through colonialism, many aspects of one's life can be taken away, but there are other mechanisms to keep one's identity strong. On Ugwu's second day of service, he is asked to sing for his master: “Sing me a song. What songs do you know? Sing!". In the quote situation, Ugwu is told to sing after arguing with Odenigbo about Mungo Park. The song Ugwu sings is an “old song he learned on his father's farm”. Adichie uses symbolism through I sing Ugwu to representhis belonging to his village and to the Igbo culture. Singing is used as an expression of one's identity. As Ugwu sings the song he learned on his father's farm, he uses the song to show his identity and belonging to his village. Even though Ugwu now lives far from home, he does not forget where he came from and this, carrying the idea that there is no place like home. Identity plays an important role in the relationships of the characters and even themselves, which can sometimes lead to confusion. Through colonialism, the language in Nigeria is heavily influenced by Britain. In the story, the ability to speak English with different characters shows how colonialism has affected the mindset of how certain people feel towards others. At the beginning of the novel, Ugwu has just met his new master and is completely fascinated by Odenigbo's English: “The master's Igbo felt light in Ugwu's ears. He was a colorful Igbo with fluent English sounds, the Igbo of those who often speak English.” Within the quote, we can see that Ugwu is fascinated by Odenigbo's English, which ultimately in the story leads Ugwu to idolize Odenigbo along with his partner, Olanna, who is also a well-educated Englishwoman. Adichie uses tone within the quote to create humor through Ugwu's fascination with the English language. The sad reality, however, is that not everyone has access to the education to learn English like the others in the book, and they don't have the resources. Odenigbo is an educated university professor while Ugwu is a poor village boy. Language is used almost to create a social divide, and this is significant because it shows how colonialism divided Nigeria through assimilation, keeping the “elites” away from the poor. The thought of a well-educated person can be seen as a blessing or a curse. Furthermore, language can be used as a powerful tool. Most of the characters usually speak in Igbo or English. An example of this is when Olanna visits Arize and they are walking through the market: “O di egwu! I really like it! Do you know how cheap it is?" Spoken by Arize, let's see how he switches between Igbo and English in one sentence. Within the novel, Adichie uses bilingualism by italicizing the spoken Igbo to show the essence of identity as the characters can speak their native language alongside the language of the colonizer. Because the characters speak in their native language, they make connections with their culture and country while keeping their identity close to them. Bilingualism can be used as an expression of identity and a sense of peace and home for the Nigerians in the book. This is significant because Adichie does this to show how colonialism not only affected Nigeria politically but also personally, as learning English was most likely forced on Nigerians. While the characters may seem intelligent by being bilingual, the story behind their journey to true learning is unknown. As a result of colonialism, ethnic tensions and rivalries are rife throughout the novel. Due to ethnic tensions, Nigerians can easily turn their backs on their people in less than a blink of an eye. This can be seen as a group of individuals laughing at a Rex Lawson song: “Our people say the chorus sounds like mmee-mmee-mmee, the bleating of a goat. […] They say that Sardauna sounded like this while begging not to kill him. When soldiers fired a mortar into his house, he crouched behind his wives and bleated, 'Mmee-mmee-mmee, please don't kill me, mmee-mmee-mmee!'” In the context of the quote, people are out laughing at a song that contains a bleating part of.