Half of a Yellow Sun: Part 3, Chapter 20 Summary & Analysis

Meanwhile Olanna’s mother complains to Olanna that her father is cheating on her, and he has bought his mistress a house in Lagos where her friends live. Olanna promises to talk to her father about this. She goes into his room and realizes what a stranger he is to her now. Olanna strictly demands that he respect her mother, and he agrees.

Olanna wakes up the next morning to find her mother raging at a servant for stealing some rice. Olanna calms the situation and then calls Odenigbo to complain about her mother. Olanna notices that Odenigbo sounds strange, and he says that his mother is there at the house. Olanna tries to joke with him about her “witchcraft,” but he doesn’t laugh.

That night Olanna’s mother thanks her for talking to her father, and Olanna is strangely proud to have spoken forcefully like Kainene would have done. Olanna’s mother then changes the subject to try and set Olanna up with an engineer.

Olanna returns to Nsukka and Ugwu greets her. Odenigbo’s mother is still there, but is about to leave. Olanna notices something different in the atmosphere, and then notes that when Odenigbo hands Amala the car keys they consciously avoid touching each other. Olanna sends Ugwu out to the yard and then talks to Odenigbo, and she immediately notices that something is not right. She accuses him of sleeping with Amala, and he cannot deny it. Olanna almost falls over in her sudden distress, and then she immediately leaves. From her car she watches a kite (a bird of prey) swoop down and carry off a chick.

Days pass, and Olanna sinks into a haze of depression in her apartment. Odenigbo comes by to explain and apologize, but Olanna soon kicks him out. She goes to Kano to try and clear her thoughts. She tells her cousin Arize about the situation, and Arize is enraged on her behalf.

A few days later Aunty Ifeka tells Olanna to go back to Nsukka and assert her independence. Ifeka says that she has told her husband that if he ever cheats on her, she will cut off his penis. At this, Olanna’s image of their marriage collapses. Ifeka tells Olanna that she must “never behave as if your life belongs to a man.”

Olanna follows her aunt’s advice and goes back to Nsukka. On the flight home the man next to her flirts with her, but then he disparages the Igbo as trying to control everything in Nigeria. She tells him she is Igbo, and he looks ashamed. Olanna is inspired by his mistake though, and she feels the freedom of having no real identity.

Olanna returns to Odenigbo’s house and packs all her things up. Ugwu tries to portray Odenigbo sympathetically, but Olanna feels that Ugwu has betrayed her as well by not telling her about Amala. Odenigbo comes to Olanna’s apartment and apologizes again, but Olanna is disappointed by how normal he looks, and how he acts as if he is entitled to her forgiveness.

Olanna takes up new hobbies and makes friends with her neighbor, a black American woman named Edna Whaler. Edna tells her how the “civilized white folk” dressed up to lynch a black man in Alabama. After a while they discuss men, and Edna suggests that Olanna should talk to a priest about Odenigbo. Olanna takes her advice, but is disappointed when the priest suggests attending church as a solution. As she is leaving, the priest tells her that she should forgive Odenigbo, but for her own sake, not his, as her misery is doing her no good.

The next morning Odenigbo comes to Olanna’s apartment looking distressed, and he says that Amala is pregnant. Olanna starts to laugh hysterically, and then she lets Odenigbo in. Odenigbo says that this was all part of his mother’s plan, as now she won’t let Amala have an abortion. Olanna won’t let Odenigbo play the victim in this, and she asks him to leave. She feels especially bad because the child she wanted is now inside of someone else.

Edna visits Olanna, who tearfully tells her what happened. Edna angrily tells Olanna to pull herself together, as Odenigbo probably isn’t spending his days crying. Olanna tells Edna that she shouldn’t project her own romantic woes onto her, and Edna leaves, disgusted. Olanna wants to apologize, but decides to wait a few days. She goes off to buy some wine and get drunk.

At the liquor store Olanna sees Richard. She invites him to come over and share some wine and talk with her, and he reluctantly agrees. They talk about Richard’s writing and get steadily drunker. Olanna notes that Richard is nothing like Odenigbo at all, and she touches his face. Soon they start to kiss, and when they have sex Olanna feels a kind of grace, like she has finally been freed.