Masculinity In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

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.
Okonkwo is described as quick

Since Unoka had none of that, Okonkwo considered him very effeminate and Okonkwo tried to be the opposite of that which is to be very masculine. One of the symbols used to symbolize this masculinity is yams because as the novel states, “Yam, the king of crops, was a man's crop.” (pg 23). From a young age, Okonkwo tried to grow his own yams and later he eventually had two barns of yams. “He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife.” (pg 8). Okonkwo was more masculine than his father bcuase he had more yams than him. Another symbol used in the novel is folk tales, which Okonkwo sees as feminate. “When he was a child his mother had told him a story about it [why mosquitos are always buzzing in people’s ear]. But it was as silly as all women's stories.” (pg 75). Okonkwo doesn’t like folk tales for the reason that they are women’s and children’s stories. The only time he thinks of one is after he killed Ikemefuna, when he feels his weakest. His dislike of folk tales comes from the fact that he does not want to be thought of as effiminate like his father. The two symbols used in the novel show a desire in Okonkwo to appear masculine, a desire influenced by his