This paper will look at the contradictions in the work of Chinua Achebe in relation to his placement of woman and femininity. Kristen Holst Petersen states that ‘the African discussion is between feminist emancipation versus the fight against neo-colonialism, particularly in its cultural aspect...which comes first, the fight for female equality or the fight against Western cultural imperialism’. This paper will attempt to highlight these contradictions in relation to Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
Above all the tribe values physical prowess, it places a great deal of importance on individual achievement, these attributes are in fact intended to ensure the security and permanence of the group. For like most early societies this is a society that is dominated by a passion for survival. Umofia therefore cultivates the notion of the heroic ideal based on physical prowess. The centrality of the yam in the novel highlights the tribe’s respect for physical strength. As a result of the intense muscular effort required for its cultivation the yam crop comes to represent an annual triumph wrested from nature, a signifier of the dialogue between the human world and the natural environment. However a reader soon realizes the contradictions between the constraints of the social ideal, that privileges the interests of the group, and the truths of individual human yearnings.
Unoka, Okonwko’s father, embodies the counter-values that stand in opposition to the rigid social ideal of the tribe. His unorthodox style of living is, it may be argued, a conscious subversion of the manly ideal. His oppositional values are those of art, in tandem with a playful irony and an amorality that resounds with his relaxed disposition to the world. ...
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...cultural experience. Of course Things Fall Apart warrants a feminist reading, but to read it only in this manner would be reductive, and in my opinion, would miss the point of what Achebe was trying to do. In writing back to novels such as Heart of Darkness and Mister Johnson Achebe has presented us with a particularized African society to critique. To level the accusation as Petersen does that ‘the obvious inequality of the sexes seems to be the subject of mild amusement for Achebe’, is in my opinion unwarranted and unfair.
Select Bibliography
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Ibadan: Heinnemann, 1962
Kabbani, Rana. Imperial Fictions: Europe's Myths of Origin. London: Pandora, 1986.
Petersen, Kristen. "First Things First: Problems of a Feminist Approach to African Literature". In Griffith, Ashcroft, Tiffin Ed The Post-Colonial Studies Reader.
Since then he has led his team to five world series titles and become the team captain. He is known for his good looks and quiet confidence. He is still playing shortstop for the Yankee’s today and never stops improving. More world series titles are seen in his future.
“A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. Your mother is there to protect you. . . . And that is why we say that mother is supreme” (p.134). In Achebe’s 1959 “Things Fall Apart”, female figures appear to have minor domesticated roles; however with these words Achebe calls attention to female strength within the tribe. Feminine power is recognized within the tribe, and fear of this power provides the foundation for the male obsession with displays of masculinity. Achebe highlights significant female goddesses, displays a solid feminine role in education, fully develops strong-minded female characters, and demonstrates masculine catastrophes, therefore establishes female as the stronger gender in the tribe.
Chinua Achebe analyzes a culture he is not accustomed with. The Madwoman in the attic theory comes into play as a westerner writing about “savage Africa”. Things Fall Apart provides an important understanding of Africana identity and history for those in the West who may be unfamiliar with African culture. Achebe tackles female identity within this book with delicacy keeping with the Ibo view of female nature in the background of the story but the forefront of the reader’s mind. A discussion of womanhood must touch upon manhood because they operate as a complementary, opposing, and equal entity.
Diverse from other African authors of his time, Chinua Achebe, the “father of African Literature”, reconstructions the stigma surrounding traditional African tribes through his ground-breaking novel Things Fall Apart. Set in southern eastern Nigeria, the novel depicts village life through the eyes of Igbo clan members prior to colonization. This fresh take on perspective allows readers to view and examine the variety of individuals that mold Igbo life through the story of a village leader, Okonkwo. Contrasting other authors of his time, Achebe takes great measures to illustrate the varied substantial roles of not only men, but women in his novel Things Fall Apart. The contributions accompanied by pivotal roles in Igbo society are displayed
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.
by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo depicts his masculinity in many different ways, even if it hurts the people closest to him. He feels it is necessary to display his manliness so he does not end up like his father Unoka. “He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his father” (4). Okonkwo correlates virility with aggression and feels the only emotion he should show is anger, leaving him no way to cope with the death of his culture.
The colonization of a country has, for centuries, been equated with the sexual taking—often raping—of a nation. In Colonialism/Postcolonialism, Ania Loomba asserts that representations of colonialism “encode the rape and plunder of colonized countries by figuring the latter as naked women and placing colonizers as masters/rapists” (Loomba 90). Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart tells the story of Okonkwo, an African village man whose security lies in his masculinity. Over the course of the novel, colonizers and traders infiltrate his community and alter his culture, unbalancing him in his position of power. His gradual emasculation throughout the novel is a direct commentary on how his village is colonized. Okonkwo’s insecurity with his masculinity
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society, coupled with his innate tendency to over-think his actions, leads to an unfocused mission of vengeance that brings about not only his own death, but also the unnecessary deaths of nearly all of the other main characters in the revenge tragedy.
Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, was based on a story and the culture in Nigeria, Western Africa. Women’s roles and responsibilities have transitioned over several of years. The book arises a situation of how the Ibo women were treated and looked upon. In the Ibo culture, the women did not only suffer a great loss of their dignity, but also their pride as women. The whole role of women in the Ibo culture is different in various ways compared to the female race in modern society. The modern society in Nigeria, women are not so powerless, and also have the opportunity to work alongside the opposite gender.
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.
In the novel “Things Fall Apart” by Achebe which was written in order to respond to the stereotype of Africa by Joseph Conrad in his text “Heart of Darkness” it viewed women as powerless, second-class citizens and were irrelevant to the
In Chinua Achebe 's classic novel "Things Fall Apart," the development of European colonization 's lead to extreme cultural changes, leaving a lasting impact on the Igbo village of Umofia in West Africa. In the novel, Achebe displays the impacts of European colonization in both critical and sympathetic terms to provide the reader with both positive and negative factors of Imperialism to develop an unbiased understanding of what the Igbo culture and society went through. While addressing the hardship 's of life by showing the deterioration of Okonkwo 's character, the cultural and traditional changes of society, and the positive and negative impacts of imperialism, Achebe keeps touch on the overall theme of the novel, once a dramatic event
The white man considered Africans to be primitive savages. They were seen as inferior, second-class citizens. Chinua Achebe was an African novelist who sought to give the African people a voice. Achebe gave a prospective of African culture that had been missing from the literature. The white man primarily composed works of literature, therefore there was a skewed representation of African culture. Achebe conveyed a greater understanding of African culture through his first novel Things Fall Apart. This analysis will examine Okonkwo’s power and lack of freedom through his wealth, property, and actions.
Frequently a person believes that herbal medicine is more naturally safe and soothing than drugs. Nevertheless, there’s no reasonable defense about this. Though many consumers trusted herbal medicine much more than the synthetic medicine because it’s safe and effective, but like anything else, it has its own limitations too. There are several hostile issues related to herbal medicine that has been quite alarming. Notwithstanding, majority of the most popular herbs are at least nearly safe.
Herbal remedies’ qualities are widespread availability, lower cost, effective for chronic conditions. Herbal remedies are the use of plants or plant extract to treat a person’ overall health. Herbal treatments are prominent for developing countries for instance, “in Africa up to 90% and in India 70% of the population depend on traditional medicine to help meet their health care needs” (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011), due to their low cost and availability. Herbal remedies have gained attention in the past decades, and expanding their uses due to the increased interest of natural therapies (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). Herbs used on the remedies grow in the wild throughout the world, therefore making it easy to