Food In Half Of a Yellow Sun

Ugwu is a Nigerian boy who, because of his Aunt’s contacts, is given a job working as a houseboy for a wealthy African man. It is through Ugwu’s relationship with food that the reader is able to better understand him as a person, and his background.
Ugwu, although he is the youngest character, is portrayed as very knowledgeable and of good moral standings. He is eager to work hard, and is loyal to his master (17). The story starts off following Ugwu as he leaves his life with his family and comes to work for Odenigbo. At once, the perspective of the young boy of thirteen captivates the reader. He provides the angle of an Igbo, and also that of young eyes. He sees his new world with keen, enthusiastic eyes, describing what he encounters in detail. It is clear that his new life is much more luxurious than the life he led with his family. This can be seen in his connection to food.
He when Ugwu encounters something that he desires but knows he will not have, he relates it to food. He is programmed to think that all things that he wants, but cannot have, have something to do with food. As if his childhood was filled with desires of a full stomach, but was never satisfied. When he first meets Olanna, he describes her body as a “yellow cashew, shapely and ripe” (30). Each cashew fruit produces only one cashew nut, which makes each cashew a special treat. It is with the same ideology that Ugwu looked upon Olanna for the first time, as if he was being presented with a treat that was usually reserved for people of status.
Food is also a source of pride for Ugwu. He brags to his Master that he knows how to cook, and then spends many hours, carefully gathering the right ingredients to prepare a meal he learned from his mother (12). Perhaps he takes pride in preparing this food because it is food that was usually saved for special occasions. Normally his family had