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Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and culture
A theme of culture in chinua Achebe's things fall apart
A theme of culture in chinua Achebe's things fall apart
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In Things Fall Apart, Umuofia was a legendary village in what is known as Nigeria today. In the village, every Ibo man strived to become the best and the king of crops. The ideal man in Umuofia is a provider for his children, wives and to maintain his authority over his family. On the other hand, the women of Umuofia job is to tend to the children's needs, cook, clean and abide by her husband’s rules. The Ibo ideas of masculinity and femininity was harmful to both individual characters and the Ibo society. Every aspect of the Ibo society was gendered including the crops. In Chapter 3 it states ‘’His mother (referring to Okonkwo) and sisters worked hard enough, but they grew women’s crops, like coco yams, beans and cassava. Yam, the king of the crops, was a man’s crop’’ (Achebe, page 23). The men in the village always had the upper hand and their wives feared them, just as Okonkwo’s wives had feared …show more content…
A society ran only by men is unfair to women and doesn’t allow a woman to completely involve themselves with the social decisions or dilemmas. It was unfair for the Ibo women that work hard to be treated as a slave while only the earth Goddesses and prophets were nearly praised and honored. The women were even denied the right to watch a wrestling match because according to the Ibo men, wrestling was a man’s sport. When reading things fall apart, the reader will notice the men in Umuofia felt as though they had a point to prove to the other men. ‘’The man who maintains a steely or tough our laid-back demeanor marks himself as a member of the male community and is esteemed by other men’’ (Marilyn Frye’s Oppression, page 15). Every man in the village wanted to be the best and imprint their existence in Umuofia. However, the men failed to realize, women withhold vigorous strength and the Ibo men didn’t let the Ibo women flaunt their strength in the
As wise John Berger once said,“Never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one”. A “single story” is the story of a culture that we learn from stereotypes and conspiracies developed throughout time in our society. In “Things Fall Apart”, Chinua Achebe defies the single story of African culture while still tying their native language in to show the importance between a physical differentiation of culture, and the similarities with morals and values they have in common. Through gender roles and proverbs used in the language of this book, we have a cultural insight of Nigeria through a new set of eyes given to us by Achebe that detures us from the single stories that we were taught to by our society.
The idea of women holding authority was unheard of in ancient times and more recently in Colonial America up through the mid twentieth century. It has always been thought that men are superior to women and that women are not strong enough physically and mentally to hold any true authority. For instance, women did not receive the right to vote in the United States until 1920; the first female senator wasn’t appointed until late 1922. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Thing Fall Apart, however, women do hold authority and some even hold more authority than men. Achebe describes how in the Ibo culture women hold the main positions in Ibo religion as priestess and Oracle and that even the strongest man in the Ibo village and the main character of the novel, Okonkwo, must obey the commands of these women.
”Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance beyond the stools. they faced the elder’s” (Achebe,1994,p.87). The court system only consist of the elders of the village but, all of the elders are males. And because they are males so they are biased to the other males so it can become an unfair court trial for the women of the village because the elder’s side with the men. Therefore there is still the debate that it is only their way of life so the Igbo people are still somewhat
Things Fall Apart, a novel based on the cultures and the traditions of the Igbos depict a very strong sense of struggle between change and tradition. This story is somewhat an archetype of To Kill a Mocking Bird. Not just centered on sociopolitical views but also cultural and traditional beliefs, Achebe specifically defines each speck of this Eastern Nigerian culture, from the breaking of the “kola –a caffeine-containing nut of evergreen trees to the unmasking of the egwuegwu and spiritual sacrifices to the gods and ancestors. Kola, a very essential part of the Igbo culture is represented in so many ways; it signifies peace, blessing, wealth, abundance, and respect most especially. In this society, the contest for wealth, titles and success was very important, it was a great legacy to be left by any man. Okonkwo being the strongest and most powerful man in the village had more than set a standard in that village by conquering the greatest warrior of all time. He had a symbiotic relationship with his community, as much has he benefited from the community’s societal and cultural values, so did they benefit from his strength and will power to succeed.
Chinua Achebe's 1959 novel, Things fall Apart, takes place in the 1890s, just before British colonization. The novel focuses on the nine Ibo-speaking villages of Umuofia, which is Ibo for "People of the Forest." Umuofia is the village in which Okonkwo, Achebe's protagonist, prospers in everything and is able to secure his manly position in the tribe. Now known as Nigeria, this land was a primitive agricultural society completely run by men. Umuofia was known, and as Achebe says, ."..feared by all it's neighbors. It was powerful in war and in magic, and priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country" (11). Perhaps, its most powerful and feared magic was called .".. agadi- nwayi, or old woman it had its shrine in the centre of Umuofia ... if anyone was so foolhardy as to pass by the shrine past dusk he was sure to see the old woman"(12). The people of Umuofia are very devoted to their religion and their magic. These ancient beliefs were believed to give the people some sort of power over their oppressors.
Women had an important role in the family as the caregiver to their husband and children. They were also expected to cook and clean their compound, plan parties and entertain guests. Men were involved in the politics of their culture and were in charge of the King Yams, their main and most important crop. According to Carrera, the women’s role in the Igbo culture was to be weak and pure for their husbands. The men’s role was to be dominant, in society and at home, this is why they have the “right” to beat their wives. In chapter 4, the author shows the right that men have, “... she returned he beat her very heavily.” The reason that Okonkwo beat his wife was because she didn’t make dinner for him and her children, instead she went to plait her hair. Also, in the Igbo culture men were able to have multiple wives, on the other hand, women were expected to have only one husband. There is however a lot of respect for both genders in their culture though because women were allowed to leave one husband to be with another. On page 109, chapter 11, it shows that Ekwefi was able to do this, “Two years after her marriage to Anene she could bear it no longer and she ran away to Okonkwo.” The respect and value for both of these gender’s was what helped keep the Igbo culture alive and
Nigeria has a rich culture stemming from the many civilizations that inhabited the land. In the novel Thing Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe brings light on to the great Igbo people, a society Nigeria hosted for centuries. The tale follows a man named Okonkwo as he tries to make amends for his father 's failures and a name for himself within his village. This path leads Okonkwo to become reckless and unreasonable. Through this, readers are exposed to the village’s judicial system, revealing that the clan’s laws based off sexism, superstitious nature, and deep religious ties.
A reason behind this might be because it may be seen as man's crop. Tell by what it says in the book that” His mother and sisters worked hard enough, but they grew women’s crops, like coco-yams, beans and cassava. Yam, the king of crops, was a man’s crop.” (Chapter 3 Page 23) Restating that the igbo society is gendered, even crops like yam.. Yams plays a huge role in the Igbo diet, is considered as a man’s crop. It allows men in the tribe to maintain the position as the primary providers for their families, and the respect which that role
During post colonial times men and women in the Igbo society had several different roles in the household, the tribe, and in the fields. The male and female roles in the Igbo tribe are determined by many different things throughout the tribe. Genders help determine what that person will be doing. Men and women both have very important roles in the household, tribe, and fields. The women in the Igbo tribe are more in charge of the children, the cooking and the cleaning and the males are in charge of the fields and taking care of the family. The males are the more incharge gender within the tribe and the women must obey everything that the male wants.
” Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said “This meeting is for men.” The man who had contradicted him had no titles. That is why he had called him a woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit”, by Okonkwo saying this he is basically indicating that women are seen as weak and are not highly valued in Umuofia. Where the author says Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit, that can be a reason as to why he thinks women are weak. One more example on how women get treated poorly or not highly valued is “It was clear from the way the crowd stood or sat that the ceremony
Upon an initial reading of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, it is easy to blame the demise of Okonkwo’s life and of the Umofia community on the imperialistic invasions of the white men. After all, Okonkwo seemed to be enjoying relative peace and happiness before then. He did have a few mishaps; one of them resulted in him being exiled for eight years. Nonetheless, he returned to his home town with high spirits and with prospects of increased success. However, everything has changed. The white men have brought with them a new religion and a new government. Okonkwo’s family falls apart. The men in his village lose their courage and valor; they do not offer any resistance to the white men. Consequently, Okonkwo kills himself in disgrace and Umofia succumbs to the white men. However, the white men are not the only people responsible for demise of Umofia. The Igbo culture, particularly their views on gender roles, sows the seed of their own destruction. By glorifying aggressive, manly traits and ignoring the gentle, womanly traits, Umofia brings about its own falling apart.
In multiple instances throughout the film, female characters violate gender norms by acting as both warriors and leaders because they are adapting typically masculine traits. In the film, women are the majority of the labor force at iron town. The men are merely there to do the labor that needs the most physical power. “Americans oversimplify Japanese women as demure, submissive, and oppressed” (Kyu Hyun, 2002, 38). This quote shows that the stereotype of women in Japanese culture had been just like the western perspective where they were below men. This quote also shows that Princess Mononoke reverses the gender role from being submissive to being above men. Another quote that supports that women were not submissive says that “the young unmarried women in Japan have become a powerful group, demographically and economically” (Kyu Hyun, 2002, 39). The women who were in the upper class society of Japan had time on their hands and we know this because they had time to write literature. “Most of the canonical work from this period was produced by women of the upper social class” (Varner, 2005,
A main character in the novel, Okonkwo has several wives. He orders them around like dogs. They are never to question what they are instructed to do; they are expected to be obedient. We see this early in the story, when Okonkwo brings Ikemefuna into his home. Okonkwo tells his senior wife that Ikemefuna belongs to the tribe and that she is expected to look after him. She in turn asks him if he will be staying with them for a long period of time. This sends Okonkwo into a fury. He snaps at her in a very degrading manner, "Do what you are told woman. When did you become one of the ndichie (meaning elders) of Umuofia?"(pg.12) Clearly she receives no respect. Later in the story we see this woman try to comfort Ikemefuna. She "mothers" him as if he is one of her own children. She tries to put him at ease and can almost instinctively feel how much he misses his own mother.
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. Maybe it's because men are physically stronger than women and have always had the ability to control them that way. In Things Fall Apart, the Igbo women were perceived as being weak. They received little or no respect in the Igbo society and were harshly abused. The recurring theme of gender conflicts helps drive the novel Things Fall Apart by showing how important women are to the men, yet they do not receive the treatment they deserve.
Within the Ibo tribe, men have more dominance over the women as they accept titles to display their power and importance, allowing them to participate in the decision making for the village. Compared to the women of the clan, men can marry multiple wives as a sign of wealth, and their wives stay home attending to their husband and caring for their children. For example, Okonkwo has already gained much respect among his tribe as “He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife. To crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars. And so although Okonkwo was still young, he was already one of the greatest men of his time. Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered” (Achebe 8). To prove their masculinity and power, Ibo men rely on their wealth, shown by their farming and the number of wives they have, and their fighting abilities in wars. Even though elderly members of the tribe gained much respect, a man’s contributions to the village and successes increases their importance among the clan. As demonstrated from a village gathering, “It was clear from the way the crowd stood or sat that the ceremony was for men. There were many women, but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders. The titled men and elders sat on their stools waiting for the trials to begin” (Achebe 87). During the ceremony, the way one is positioned illustrates their role in society. While the titled, important men and elders are seated in the front rows, the women are neglected in the outer regions as to show their low social status compared to the men. Achebe compares the women to outsiders because they serve little importance to the ceremony and to the village as they only work from home to care for their family. The ability of men to accept titles and