Okonkwo's Resolve: Defiance and Defining Masculinity

Okonkwo was the son of Unoka, and Unoka was know in all of Umuofia as a poor coward who never paid back his debts. From the day Unoka died, Okonkwo vowed to never be like his father. Instead, Okonkwo was the complete opposite being described as wealthy but frugal, brave, violent and stubbornly opposed to music and anything else that was perceived “soft” such as, conversation and emotion. In regards to his wealth he married 3 wives and his 3 wives bore him 7 children all together. Of his 7 children he favored Ezinma his only child with Ekwefi his second wife, and did not approve or agree with his oldest son Nwoye’s actions. Okonkwo more than anything valued manliness, his own and others. During the time in this book when Ezinma is taken by

The yams they grew acted as their main source of food, and stood as the backbone in their agriculturally rich society. When the missionaries came to Umuofia their desire to convert these people resulted in less people to work their farms and I think in the end if the story was to continue would cause a crippling problem. The social culture in Umuofia is one that is dominated by the male figure. Each family in this culture is run by the man of the house, and the women who ran it came to every beckoning call of their husbands. The woman’s tasks consisted of farming, cooking, raising the children and also the chickens they housed. These tasks are seen in many cultures as the “normal” behavior for the women in the families, but in Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe the author shows us that the women are also subjected to violence from their husbands when they feel she has earned it. Also, the women are seen as property of the men and not as individual women. Women in this culture are essentially bought with yams and palm wine and are then their ownership is passed to their new husband. When the missionaries came to Umuofia I think it gave the women who were brave enough to go against their husbands the chance to seek freedom from their bondage. These women were capable of joining the Christian faith and along with that acquire an education and no longer have to disgard their children when they bare twins. These changes offer a new more independent life possibility for the women and Umuofia and I think that is one of the only positives the Christian missionaries brought to the village of Umuofia and