Half of a Yellow Sun

“Remember, what you will answer whenever he calls you is Yes, sah!”

Ugwu’s Aunt utters this quote to Ugwu as she reminds the boy to be respectful to his new employer Odenigbo at all times. As Ugwu is from the small and rural village of Opi, this is an important opportunity for the boy, and his Aunt does not want him to mess it up.

“I hope you’ve thought about coming to join us at the ministry, Olanna. We need first class brains like yours.”

Olanna’s father, Chief Okonji, says this to his daughter in one of his numerous attempts to enlist his daughter to work for the government. Chief Okonji is very wealthy and wants the same for his daughter, but in the end she travels her own path.

“Papa is asking what kind of white man is this? Why did he come here and what is he doing?”

Emeka translates this message from his father to Richard, as the father does not understand why this European tourist did not bring a camera to the Ugwu-Igbo pot excavation site. Richard did not come as a mindless consumer, however, but as a sincerely interested scholar.