The Fear that Drives Manhood In Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the theme of perceived masculinity is prominent and portrayed as a critical characteristic which has the potential to shape clans, families, and the safety of others. Because of the emphasis placed on masculinity, women are widely disregarded and downplayed, as they are seen as property. In African culture men are revered due to their warrior-like natures that can uphold the functionality of a clan, but frowned upon when deemed as weak; the result of this fear of weakness led to the dominance of men over women. Masculinity is a major theme in Things Fall Apart. The epitome of masculinity and power is Okonkwo himself. As a high village elder, he exemplifies the coveted attributes of …show more content…
In the South Pacific, men tie vines around their ankles and jump from a 100-foot-tall crude wooden tower, diving far enough to touch their shoulders to the ground to prove their bravery. In the Brazilian Amazon, young boys wear gloves for ten minutes filled with stinging bullet ants. In America it can mean wolfing down a Big Mac in sub-30 seconds. But in order to obtain the status of “warrior” in Umuofia, Africa, one must maintain these essential indicators of wealth: a strong warrior-nature, a thriving farm, many subservient wives, and an abundance of yams. Lacking any of these conveyed a sense of …show more content…
Unfortunately, the dominion of the men meant the women were powerless. This contributed to the atmosphere of the clan. The women were considered second best, and were servants to their husbands. Even in the case of Ikemefuna and the village girl, it is ironic that Ikemefuna’s fate was not decided upon immediately. Rather, it took three years. However, the village girl immediately was summoned to replace the wife that had been killed. This shows us the timeliness and eagerness in dealing with women’s issues and the patience when dealing with the fate of
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.
In every society, the difference between genders leads to different roles and lifestyles depending on the culture of each society. While there may be similarities between gender roles among many societies, the explanations tend to be different from culture to culture. The society depicted in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is reminiscent of an Ancient Greek or Roman society, where the men are considered to be strong warriors and breadwinners, and the women are looked at as objects, whose main duty is to tend to the children and obey the husband without a question. While at first glance, the Shakespearean play Tempest seems different from Achebe’s book, in reality, similar themes lie at its center, including the abuse of women and male power dominating throughout the play. While the only female character is a young girl, who is a puppet of his father’s will, she has courage to be honest and to stand up against her father on more than one occasion, exhibiting an innate female power like Ekwefi in Things Fall Apart. Hence these two works, while written three hundred years apart and showing two societies at the opposite ends of colonization, illustrate that the gap between them is not as big as one would think when it comes to society’s gender roles.
Things Fall Apart is an attention-grabbing novel full of violence, aggression, and oppression. Its main protagonist Okonkwo, on the surface appears to be a true tribesman, and a revered leader with qualities that far surpassed many among his clan. However, the physical and psychological qualities of Oknokwos’ character mirrored an individual who was nothing short of a “king like” ruler and conquer. Okonkwo traits of being a self-seeking, abusive, and cold-hearted individual made him a man that preys on the weak and young, and people in general who falls outside of his definition of a man. Okonkwo character lacks many characteristics that represent real strength, disciple, and bravery as his life came to a disappointing demise reflective of the weakness he spent his whole life avoiding. Okonkwo character in all fairness fails to stage some real virtues of a true leader, but rather that of a ruler.
No matter what culture you live in, men have expectations that they have to live up to. In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, manliness is displayed heavily through the actions of the main character Okonkwo. While both Igbo and Western culture put an emphasis on masculinity, these two cultures go about it in drastically different ways. Igbo culture tend to put emphasis on the daily actions of men, while Western culture tend to show masculinity through social and economic factors.
Achebe’s first novel, yet most widely known of all his work, is ‘Things Fall Apart’. It follows the story of Okonkwo, a successful man in Umofia with a fear of looking weak who takes care and kills a boy named Ikemefuna, later gets exiled for 7 years from Umofia, and after white colonists invade their village and it is that his village will not fight against them, Okonkwo hangs himself. Although Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, is mentioned in detailed only in the beginning and then sparesly mentioned there on, throughout these events of the novel, he had a big influence on Okonkwo. The extent of Unoka’s influence throughout the novel can be seen by looking at the chracter of the protagnist Okonkwo, the plot, and tone.
In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is portrayed as a respected and determined individual whose fatal flaw eventually works against him. Throughout the novel the readers are shown that Okonkwo has many of these Characteristics because he is obsessed with the idea of becoming just like his father. This becomes his flaw in the novel that puts him into exile and makes it hard for him to adjust to the changes that were made with in his village.
In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the ideas of being a man are mentioned throughout the historical fiction novel. Okonkwo, the main character, is very serious about being a man. It is very important in the Ibo culture, where Okonkwo is from to be manly. He does not view his late father as being manly, so Okonkwo wants to be everything his father is not. Sometimes, Okonkwo’s obsession with manliness do more harm than good. Okonkwo is manly because he cares and protects his family, and he is physically strong. On the other hand, Okonkwo is not manly because he is not mentally strong.
In our present culture, and throughout history, there has been an immense emphasis on masculinity. This is only natural due to the male dominant culture that has been prevalent since the dawn of human civilization. This is also the case in Haggard’s She, and Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Upon examining both Holly and Okonkwo, they both express raw masculinity, but the ways in which they display their masculinity as well as the role that masculinity has in their identities are vastly different. Okonkwo displays an heir of masculinity due to his own insecurities and unleashes his wrath on the people close to him, while Holly’s masculinity is unleashed during times of necessity and in hunting.
The position and image of women in Things Fall Apart is an important topic. Unfortunately, people have not paid much attention to it beyond going along with the assumption that this novel presents women as a sadly oppressed group with no power.
In things fall apart the theme masculinity vs. femininity is strongly represented by the main character Okonkwo. Okonkwo is described as a powerful man in the beginning of the story. He is considered a very strong leader. His character reflects from of how his father was. His father was considered very feminine, because EJ he didn’t have the power and strength of the other men in the village. He was very soft towards his son, making Okonkwo wanting to be the opposite of his father. In the beginning of the novel Okonkwo can be seen as the spokesperson for masculinity and is superior to all women in the village. As the plot thickens, we can use foreshadowing to see his future downfall as well as losing his masculinity.
In Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, it is immediately evident to the reader that Okonkwo, the hero of the story, is obsessed with manliness. His concern manifests itself in almost every chapter. The story begins with an account of his success as a wrestler - a "manly" competition - and ends with his murder of the court messenger, another "manly" act. In every action and every choice he makes, Okonkwo is determined to show that he is masculine. It is powerful irony, then, that the evidence of the novel shows that Okonkwo is actually a latent homosexual.
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is a powerful novel about the social changes that occurred when the white man first arrived on the African continent. The novel is based on a conception of humans as self-reflexive beings and a definition of culture as a set of control mechanisms. Things Fall Apart is the story of Okonkwo, an elder, in the Igbo tribe. He is a fairly successful man who earned the respect of the tribal elders. The story of Okonkwo’s fall from a respected member of the tribe to an outcast who dies in disgrace graphically dramatizes the struggle between the altruistic values of Christianity and the lust for power that motivated European colonialism in Africa and undermined the indigenous culture of a nation.
If viewed on the surface the story line of Things Fall Apart is a tragedy, but when viewed in a wider perspective it is a story of deeper conflict. The main issue is that the British have come to establish a mission and receive converts. Less evident is the conflict this intrusion inserts between the Ibo and British. The underlying issue is masculinity versus femininity. By this I mean to say that the Ibo are an agrarian people who are a patriarchal and see any sign of weakness as being less than desirable. The protagonist in the story, Okonkwo, is the champion of this thought. As what would happen to him seems to happen to the Ibo. When Okonkwo disagrees he is usually correct and the tribe would suffer the same fate and vice versa.
For example, Nwoye suppresses the fact that he would rather listen to his mother’s stories than Okonkwo’s because he needs to uphold society’s expectation that males would prefer to listen to something more “masculine”. In fact, Igbo society is so gendered that even the crops that are grown are associated with being male or female. Okonkwo is a character who is ruled by fear, which stems from his desire to be perceived as masculine. This need to be perceived as masculine leads Okonkwo to do what he wants regardless of how his actions will affect the clan. At times, Okonkwo goes directly against the will of others, which for him, proved to be consequential. Okonkwo is a prime example of how gender roles negatively affect Igbo society in Things Fall
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.