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Significance of women in things that fall apart
Women in literature
Women in literature
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Often in society there are actions that are categorized as feminine or masculine. those ideas formulate into a mind, defining themselves and guiding their lives. In some situations they even begin to be all the person bases their actions on. Eventually creating an inner struggle/conflict of weather the actions the do are manly or womanly. an example of a character who struggles with this is Okonkwo in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. This book follows his life and inner struggles. The book teaches the red ear that trying hard to control things inout life could led to the destruction to one’s-self. it questions the idea of can a society only be feminine and masculine. In addition to this it shows the great lengths that an individual would go through to simply gain acceptance as a man. Because of this the author is trying to convey the struggle of femininity and masculinity. Okonkwo’s struggle of masculinity and femininity led to his disastrous fate .
Okonkwo’s struggle with masculinity and femininity less him to his demise because he becomes aggressive to his family. There is a quote in which it describes his Okonkwo actions towards his family, “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness” (Achebe, 10). This quote resembles Okonkwo’s true self. In reality his whole life was dominated of fear of being womanly. In his opinion he believes that being manly was the only option. He allowed the idea to consume him and the lingering fear of failure make him into a different person. Consequently this becomes Okonkwo to brome irrational with his actions. For instance in one scene Ekwefi the second lied to calm his anger towards his youngest ...
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...mitting a womanly act.
“In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete...Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messenger escape” (Achebe, 176). All of the fear led Okonkwo make drastic decisions. His rage and everything engulfed him and in the end led him where he wanted to run away from. All of his life he strived for greatness and failed to realize that he developed into the person he despised to become. This is the final determining act before his death.
“ ‘It is against our custom,’ said one of the men. ‘It is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offence against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be buried by his clansmen. His body is evil, and only strangers may touch it. That is why we ask your people to bring him down, because you are strangers’ ” (Achebe, 178)
Even though Okonkwo loves Ikemefuna and in some ways thinks more highly of him than his own son, he participates in his death because the oracle has decreed it, and he also does not want to be perceived as weak. After that, it was a sullen moment for him: “Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. He drank palm wine from morning till night, and his eyes were red and fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor”(Achebe 63). The death is absolutely traumatic to Okonkwo as it shakes his faith in the traditions that he has built his entire life and existence around. It conflicts many things he believes about himself in terms of his manliness and bravery. Achebe describes Okonkwo’s emotions in order to display a sense of hopelessness and despair to the
Okonkwo’s beliefs are mainly related to masculinity. Throughout the story, it's clear to see that Okonkwo is very attached the idea of masculinity and power.
So, this is a brief showcase of Okonkwo’s feelings troughtout the book. At first, during his childhood, he felt ashamed of his father, and eager to revert that situation. When he was a respected man, he felt proud of what he had achieved, and was determined to do anything to show himself as a tough man, even kill his own son if necessary. That as well, portrays a selfish personality, someone who put himself first over his family. At last, he felt again ashamed of himself and lost, as he had been let apart by his community, and had to redo his life in a new village. He last felt strong but hopeless, and knowing that everything would get worse, he surrendered and finished his life.
Okonkwo struggled his entire life with his perception of manliness. Societal expectations and norms of power, strength, and achievement were only reinforced and amplified by his loathing for his father's laziness and "womanly qualities" such as compassion, warmth, and cowardice in war. This defiance to become the opposite of everything his father was created internal and external conflict that led to Okonkwo's eventual doom.
Prior to the arrival of the western ideas, Okonkwo was a well-respected member of the Umuofia clan. His traffic flaw, being terrified of looking weak like his father who was also a very lazy man that loved a life of leisure. This pushed the protagonist to become self-made man he was. He was idolized throughout the village he had what only some men dreamed of, three wives, land, titles and much more. When he was forced to leave Umuofia and take his family with him, after killing a clansman he no longer fells important to society he has no important role to fill.
Okonkwo’s actions lead him to the choice to kill himself, not bad Chi or fate. Specifically, his fear of being weak, his unbalanced lifestyle, and his lack of appreciation for his love of his sons drive him to exile and eventually suicide. A clearer head would have allowed him to value the Ibo ideals of balance and the bond between father and son. These ideals would have kept him from killing Ikemefuma, and the Earth would not have punished him. They would have allowed him to reason with Nwoye, the missionaries, and his clansmen. Instead, he chose the paths of extremity, of pure anger and aggression. Ultimately, those paths lead him to a tree, and Okonkwo hanged himself from it.
But Okonkwo went and done what he was warned not to do and that was to not be apart of the killing of his own. Life goes on from this and he is full of pain and heartache. It seems as if the farther he goes in life the more he fine more pain and for what to be the leader to be better than his father. The reason I say this is because he goes on to tell of how his only daughter whom he so wished was a boy becomes sick and he hurries out to find the cure and brings it back and she becomes well again. Ezeudu became ill and passed on which is the man that told Okonkwo to not go and kill Ikemefuna but he did anyways while the guns were going off for the praised man of the clan.
Okonkwo’s lack of father figure leads him to the perspective of fear of failure and weakness this is what he is driven by because in his life he doesn’t have a role model that he can look up to in order to overcome that fear or that adaption to the new society. Okonkwo’s biggest obstacles throughout this story is fear, lack of self worthiness, and culture values.
Although Okonkwo is a man of power, he lacks the ability to control internal fears influencing his dark and tragic ruin. His “whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil” (pg. 12). He fears the thought of being weak or feminine, as his father once was, and resorts to aggressiveness for strength. Although working hard and being strong to conquer fear is important for people, Okonkwo has a hard time controlling his own fear, which causes him to be inconsiderate and aggressive at times, even to his own family.
Okonkwo’s tragic flaw is that “he was afraid of being thought weak,” because “they were the traits of his father,” (Achebe 6; see also El-Dessouky, “The Cultural Impact upon Human Struggle for Social Existence in Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’”). Therefore, he follows through in killing a boy he thought of like a son, just to keep his pride and masculinity. “The problem with Okonkwo’s personality is that he is so obsessed with single-mindedness and egocentricity that he cannot hear or accept any idea different from his own,” (Sadeghi, “Role of Colonial Subjects in Making Themselves Inferior in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart”). This infatuation with appearing masculine and strong prevents Okonkwo from welcoming any change. He has built his entire life towards a successful and substantial role in the village to avenge the shame his father placed on his family, so in the face of the Europeans destruction of a traditional culture that he has based his entire life to prosper in, he quickly becomes unhinged. Seeing that masculinity and physical strength are no longer highly valued, attributes he considers almost sacred, he commits
My opinion is that Okonkwo’s misery and tragic end is caused by his own personality and individual choices. This is why: Okonkwo’s ability to communicate is limited due to his enforced masculine behaviour. Because of an active decision to beat his wife during the week of peace, he is forced to compensate for his crime with a punishment decided by the rules of society. Violent actions is an alternative way of communicating for those who do not express themselves with words, which is a suiting describtion of Okonkwo. To use this violent way of communication during an event which opposes that exact thing leads to people in the village disliking him.
Okonkwo’s masculinity has blinded him to a point where he represses his femininity. This struggle leads to many problems, and eventually to the death of Okonkwo. Bennett explains, “Because of his contempt for unmanliness, he rudely insults Osugo, destroys his relationship with his own son Nwoye, and lets himself be pressured into sacrificing Ikemefuna in spite of Ezeudu's warning”. Also, Okonkwo disrespects women in many ways. “He ignores the wisdom found in women's stories, he frequently intimidates and beats his wives, and he can only relate to his daughter Ezinma because he thinks of her as a boy” (Bennett).
Okonkwo wants his children to accomplish the things he did at their age, but that’s cannot always the case in life. In this situation, it is hard for him to stand up to his dad, so he continues to see him as a weak individual. The second natural conflict tells us a lot about Ekwefi as a character. “She had borne ten children, and nine of them died in infancy.” (Achebe 77).
For example he beats his wife and kills his adopted son just to show his power and strength, because he does not want to be considered weak. And when he does this to his wife it shows utter failure, because there is no reason to hit a woman or even put his hands on her in that way. Okonkwo got abruptly punished for what he had done and will probably never come back to his village. Another time that okonkwo had been faced with conflict is when he was with the clan leaders chasing down his adopted son Ikemefuna. A few days before the new year, Okonkwo threatens his second wife Ekwefi with a gun.
In his attempt to control his own fate, he develops a desire to control and eliminate weakness and femininity within himself and his sons. He beats his sons when they display weakness, and beats his wives when they discover weakness in himself. For example, when Ekwefi mutters a remark about Okonkwo’s skill with guns, his abilities and capacities as a man was being challenged and reflexively he shoots at her in response. However this fear in losing his masculinity ended up influencing his actions, and impaired his decision making skills regarding anything challenging his masculinity. By constantly responding rashly and without judgement has lead Okonkwo into many unfortunate situations, ultimately leading to his final act of killing the messenger.