Essay on the Role of Women in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

1828 Words4 Pages

The Role of Women in Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart explores the struggle between old traditions within the Igbo community as well as Christianity and "the second coming" it brings forth. While on the surface, it appears the novel narrows its focus to a single character, Okonkno and his inner battles, one can read deeper into the text and find an array of assorted conflicts in the realm on human vs. human, human vs. nature, human vs. society, and society vs. society. For the purposes of this paper I shall focus on the labyrinth of human vs. human and human vs. society in the framework of the role of women in Igbo society and how men assign and dictate these roles. I will also briefly explain the importance of women in terms of motherhood and wifedom.

Throughout my research I've encountered numerous papers on the rights women do have in Igbo society, on the importance of women in this society. They site the role of widows in Igbo society as well as the respect given to the first wife as proof that while this society is not an ideal situation for women, it is hardly the misogynist society that some make it out to be. I passionately disagree. It is obvious to me that to the characters in Things Fall Apart, women are "things" to be exploited, abused and to serve as second-class citizens to the rank of male privilege. The theme of misogyny runs rampant throughout the text whether it is exposed by the absence of women in the text, the abuses women suffer at the hands of men, or the subtle ways in which society dictates and reinforces these negative statuses and images of women.

Throughout the text women are virtually invisible and live their lives on the sidelines; it is clear from a close read...

... middle of paper ...

...p but be sickened and saddened by not only the reality of women in Africa but of Achebe's portrayal of it.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1958.

Chun, June. "The Role of Women in Things Fall Apart" 1990 October 1999

Jeyifo, Biodun. "Okonkwo and his Mother: 'Things Fall Apart' and Issues of Gender in the Constitution of African Postcolonial Discourse" Callaloo Fall 1993

Mezu, Rose Ure. "Women in Achebe's World" Spring/Summer 1995. October 1999

Osei-Nyame, Kwadwo. "Chinua Achebe Writing Culture: Representations of Gender and Tyranny in Things Fall Apart" Research in African Literatures Summer 1999.

Sengovaa, Joko. "Native Identity and Alienation in Richard Wright's Native Son and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: A Cross Cultural Analysis" The Mississippi Quarterly Spring 1997.

Show More
Related

  • Adam Smith Essay

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    Adam Smith was a man of many achievements. As a Scottish philosopher and political economist he became famous by his classical and influential books. In 1759 he wrote a book called “The Theory of Mortal Sentiments”and in 1775 he wrote another called “An Inquiry to the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”. Known as the “father of modern economics” Adam Smith has greatly influenced society. Adam Smith’s history impacted the way that our society is today. Adam’s childhood, environment, education and events throughout his life contributed to the way that we view society. With Adam’s theories and great works he molded a pathway to different stand points on the public and its society. Among his great works are the wealth of nations and inquiry to the nature and causes of the wealth of nations alongside the theory Adam named the invisible hand. Adam also thought about the public from an economic and political stand point. Due to factors that influenced Adam’s early life, he was able to learn from those before him to become the great economist, politician, and philosopher that he was. This way, even though Adam Smith lived during the time of the scientific revolution his words of wisdom in politics and the economy are still used today in the public.

    Read More

  • Adam Smith's Moral Sentiments

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    Adam Smith has developed and created the most influential works of economic, philosophy and beyond. Adam Smith made an economic model for his theory involving the economic market through his books. Adam Smith produced his own book titled “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” which revolved around morals of humans and mercy toward a person or a community. On the other hand, the book did have a slight vision of the rejection of loving yourself and the slim idea what an individual wants for his or her self. Adam Smith also produced another book titled “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” that was based on the concept of the politics of economy. This book also gave the idea that wealth’s amount is determined by the amount of work not by length. Adam Smith’s book eventually g...

    Read More

  • Four of the Major Economists' Theories

    2610 Words  | 6 Pages

    Adam Smith was one of the first economists of modern times. By modern time I mean post 1700’s and post mercantilism. This particular period in time is commonly referred to as the Age of Enlightenment. Enlightenment thinkers felt that change dictated by reason was essential for humanities’ continuation. Smith, of Scottish origin is best know for his book The Wealth of Nations in which he wrote his most famous theory of the Invisible Hand and not only educated but delighted ...

    Read More

  • Adam Smith Essay

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    Adam Smith was born in a village called Kirkcaldy at 1723, Scotland. His father was a lawyer who married Margaret Douglas in 1720 and died two month after Smith was born. When Adam was fourteen, he earned a scholarship to get in to the University of Glasgow, and later he attended Balliol College at Oxford. After getting educated, Adam started to lecture in 1748 in University of Edinburgh. In 1764, Adam left off teaching in the University of Edinburgh to tutor a duke’s son whose name was Buccleuch. Then after he earned enough money from lecturing, Adam published two books. The first book that Adam wrote was “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” at 1759, and the second book was “An Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations,” at 1776. In 1778, Adam was appointed as an administrator of customs. In this job he was to enforce laws against smuggling. Adam Smith was never married, and died at age 67, 1790.

    Read More

  • History of the Peloponnesian War

    1472 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his funeral oration, Pericles elevates the deeds of the Athenian heroes into the realm of eternal worship (logos). As a man of rhetoric, he successfully transforms the death of the Athenian warriors into a source of inspiration. Instead of focusing on the limited and ephemeral qualities of the past, he asks the Athenians to look forward to serving the common good of their polis (PW 2.43). However, after the plague, Athenians came to the realization that working towards a better future, will prove futile if you cannot survive...

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart

    1974 Words  | 4 Pages

    Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart is a narrative story that follows the life of an African man called Okonkwo. The setting of the book is in eastern Nigeria, on the eve of British colonialism in Africa. The novel illustrates Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs, and his eventual downfall, all of which basically coincide with the Igbo?s society?s struggle with the Christian religion and British government. In this essay I will give a biographical account of Okonwo, which will serve to help understand that social, political, and economic institutions of the Igbos.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart: Eurocentrism

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    Achebe writes Things Fall Apart to revise the history that has been misplaced. He writes to the European and Western culture. This fact is evident because the book is written in English and it shows us the side of the African culture we wouldn’t normally see. Achebe is constantly ...

    Read More

  • Analysis of Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    system of his day which he considered so tyrannous. We can only hope that his

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart Theme Essay

    1621 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before the arrival of the Europeans, Achebe did a excellent job portraying how the life of Igbo was before they were forced to oppose their own culture. To support this theme, Achebe included detailed descriptions of social rituals within each family, the justice system, religious practices and consequences, preparation and indulgence of food, the marriage process and the distributing of power within the men. Achebe shows how every man has an opportunity to prove himself worthy to achieve a title on the highest level, based merely on his own efforts. One may argue that the novel was written with the main focus on the study of Okonkwo’s character and how he deteriorates, but without the theme that define the Igbo culture itself, we would never know the universe qualities of the society that shaped Okonkwo’s life. The lives of the Igbo people was no different to the actual lives of the Ibos people back in the early days of Africa. Just like in Things Fall Apart, in actual African tribes there was never a ruler. “Very interesting thing about these villages is that there is no single ruler or king that controls the population. Decisions are made by including almost everyone in the village” (AfricaGuide). Using the theme, Achebe educated readers on by mirroring real African life in her

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

    2265 Words  | 5 Pages

    Okhamafe, Imafedia. "Geneological Determinism in Achebe's Things Fall Apart." Modern Critical Interpretation: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2002. 125-44. Print.

    Read More

  • Conflicts of Gender in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    459 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are constant struggles between gender, identity, commodification, and class. Among the men and women in many African tribes that still exist today, there are divergences, which will always remain intact because of the culture and the way in which they are taught to treat each other. Chinua Achebe wrote the novel, Things Fall Apart, which is a great piece of African literature that deals with the Igbo culture, history, and the taking over of African lands by British colonization. The ongoing gender conflict is a prominent theme in Things Fall Apart, presenting the clash between men and women of the African Igbo society. Throughout history, from the beginning of time to today, women have frequently been viewed as inferior, men’s possessions whose sole purpose was to satisfy the men’s needs.

    Read More

  • Change And Tradition In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history, there have been many instances of people struggling to identify and cope with change and tradition, and this is no different in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Feminism In Things Fall Apart

    1833 Words  | 4 Pages

    Things Fall Apart, a novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe is a story about an Igbo village in Nigeria and a man that once was a powerful influence in the tribe, but begins to lose his influence as Nigeria is colonized and Christian missionaries come to evangelize. A deeper look at the novel, with a feminist critics point of view, tells a lot about the Igbo people as well as the author’s thoughts about women in the novel. Feminist critics look at female authors, and female characters and their treatment as well as women’s issues in society. Since Achebe is a male, the main focus of feminist literary criticism for Things Fall Apart is the women in the novel and their issues as well as the Igbo view of gender identity. Many issues that women

    Read More

  • Tradition And Modernity In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    ]k Adegbite O. came to a similar conclusion about Okonkwo’s views on masculinity and femininity when he makes the remark in his essay that, “Okonkwo is of the opinion that traditional men have lost their place in society and cannot be termed ‘worthy’ anymore as Western culture has softened their resolve; men have been turned to weaklings by colonisation and the white man’s religion” (Tobalase, “Masculinity and Cultural Conflict in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart”).

    Read More

  • Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood as an African Feminist Text

    3065 Words  | 7 Pages

    Okeke, Phil E. "Reconfiguring Tradition: Women's Rights and Social Status in Contemporary Nigeria." Africa Today 47.1 (2000): 49-63.

    Read More

More about Essay on the Role of Women in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Open Document