Things Fall Apart Masculinity Essay

467 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Main themes in Things Fall Apart

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. Igbo society strongly believed that men were superior to women. Men had all of the roles in the community that required power and knowledge. Men were allowed to have numerous wives, but women could only have one husband and had to serve his needs, including helping fellow sister wives. Men could beat their wives and essentially treat them as objects and the women just had to deal with it. The first major conflict that creates the sense of the theme is when Okonkwo beats his wife during the Week of Peace. He is going against the beliefs of the Igbo …show more content…

This is considered a feminine crime because the act of killing was unintentional. As he creates more violence and rebels from the Igbo clan, he loses more and more of his masculinity. This crime sealed in his fate by exiling him for seven years. The others in the tribe hope he can learn a lesson and possibly leave the clan for good. Over his time being away from his home, there are many changes made in the Igbo society. When Okonkwo returns, he is ready to gain his reputation back as one of the strongest men of the society. He sees the white missionaries have essentially turned the whole village “feminine” in his

Show More
Related

  • Uncivilized In The Igbo Society

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most of the Igbo people try to have the most domains that they can get so they will beat people to show their domains to the other that live in the Igbo society.“Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of at god”(Achebe,1994,p.30). Okonkwo beats his wife to show that he is the dominants between his other wives and the others of the tribe. But the point of the beating that Okonkwo did was to enforce his hierarchy and importance in his society and to the elder’s.Next the village in the Igbo society thing that masculinity is important, but that leads to unfairness in the government system.

    Read More

  • Depiction of Masculinity in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...uble-crossing his own people like the rest of the tribe starts to do. “Everybody in the assembly spoke, and in the end it was decided to ostracise the Christians. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust” (159). Okonkwo’s inability to change and cope with his feelings ultimately made him the woman in the end by killing himself.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart: Okonkwo in the Male Dominant Igbo Society

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, they emphasize on personal achievements, and taking titles which means leadership and respect (Ohadike Don C., p. xxvi-xxvii). In the book Things Fall Apart, the main character, Okonkwo is affected by the influences of the Igbo society and vows to become a man of the highest title and to gain respect from all the lands. Okonkwo and his family live in male dominant society where men are superior to women, therefore, Okonkwo thinks he is the owner of his household, and constantly beats his three wives and children. Okonkwo develops arrogant characteristics and a fear of being weak from the traditions of the society, and throughout the book he puts up a hard exterior and beats his son Nwoye, because he thinks Nwoye is lazy and weak. In the end, Nwoye betrays Okonkwo because of his father’s cruel attitudes towards him and the fact that his father murders his adopted brother, Ikemefuna. Due to the influences of the Igbo society, Okonkwo is afraid of being a man without a title and being buried without dignity, so he strives all his life to achieve his dream, this is the cause of his impatient, arrogant characteristics and inner “fear” which eventually leads to his self-destruction. The influence of the Igbo society develops an inner “fear” and traits among the villagers, especially on men, causing negative impacts on their lives.

    Read More

  • Nigerian Culture In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

    1540 Words  | 4 Pages

    This crime from Okonkwo left him away from his homeland for seven years, and during his escape, his old culture would soon be evolved. This unintentional action also played a domino effect, first moving his family away and having his home destroyed, then having his son, Nwoye turn back on him and become a missionary in Umuofia joining the white culture. Achebe describes how Nwoye declines Okonkwo being his father towards Obierika who is doing favors for the family (144). Hearing this, his father seems to not be harmed and is disappointed in his son. These missionaries began assembling into Umuofia, convincing the clansmen that there is only one God, and He is the creator of everything unlike what the clansmen had believed. They had a god for everything, but they now were being persuaded. Hearing this, Okonkwo is in shock and believes that the only way to solve the issue is to chase the men out of the village some way (Achebe 146). Nwoye is attracted to the new religion but has yet to reveal it to his father for fear of him. When Okonkwo heard the news, he is infuriated with anger. “… sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck”

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart: Gender Roles In African Igbo Society

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    In things fall apart women are proclaimed as a unpowerful human being with no rights within the Igbo society. The reason behind this is because of the culture and as well as ,the way they were taught to treat there spouse . In the book women were perceived as being weak and also received very little or no respect in the Igbo society. They also were harshly abused and look down upon. In things fall apart it says “The women and children live in perpetual fear of his fiery temper. He believes in ruling his household with a heavy hand”( Chapter 2 Pg13) . This quote is restating that Okonkwo was the

    Read More

  • Masculinity in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Okonkwo

    1830 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a straight to the point story, embedded with interesting elements that capture readers’ attention. In my view, when I read the story, I found many interesting things about the theme of the book. But The Masculinity Okonkwo was what captures my attention. The story opens up to a Traditional Igbo lifestyle, a theme which is highly stylized from its ritual to the actions performed for certain ceremonies. Most of the action Igbo tribe has been an attempt to show respect to the gods, for example, when ikemefuna became sick and his stomach swelled up their traditions says that he take them to the evil forest and kill him. The story also seems to focus on gender, family, respect and reputation, and religion. In fact, Gender which in Igbo tradition, sets standards and roles between Igbo women and men. Women in Igbo Culture are the weaker sex, but are endowed with qualities that make them worthy of worship, like the ability to bear children. Men in Igbo Culture are the stronger sex, which gives them the ability to provide for their family and has prowess on the battlefield. In Igbo culture, building a nice and respectable family is important and titles in their culture gives them respect and builds reputation in the ‘‘Umuofia’’ village playing a big role in Igbo tradition. Nothing plays a bigger role in Igbo tradition than religion, the ‘‘Umuofia’’ village worship the goddess of the earth are always careful to avoid committing sins of their goddess with a fear of vengeance that might wipe out an entire generation. In the story, the men of the Umuofia village seem to care a lot about masculinity, when Okonkwo is hosting a party he takes it very seriously and ...

    Read More

  • Conflicts of Gender in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    459 Words  | 1 Pages

    The man holds the highest importance in the family and it is he who holds the title. In Things Fall Apart, the reader follows the troubles of the main character Okonkwo, a tragic hero whose flaw includes the fact that "his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness" (2865). For Okonkwo, his father Unoka was the essence of failure and weakness.

    Read More

  • Okonkwo's Self-Destructive Masculinity in Things Fall Apart

    2752 Words  | 6 Pages

    Throughout the novel, Oknonkwo does many things to prove his masculine quality. Many of these things are debatable as to whether they affirm Okonkwo's masculinity or if they bring out his true weakness and lead to his destruction. (Goldman 2)

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Okonkwo's Three Wives

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book women are being treated poorly. Okonkwo has three wives in which he expects for them to follow his orders or there would be consequences. Women do not get enough credit in the Igbo culture, they do so much stuff but yet receive so little credit for their work. They cook, clean the house and take care of their kids. They get disrespected by their own husbands. For example, when Okonkwo hit his youngest wife because she left the hut without making

    Read More

  • Tradition And Modernity In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    ]k Adegbite O. came to a similar conclusion about Okonkwo’s views on masculinity and femininity when he makes the remark in his essay that, “Okonkwo is of the opinion that traditional men have lost their place in society and cannot be termed ‘worthy’ anymore as Western culture has softened their resolve; men have been turned to weaklings by colonisation and the white man’s religion” (Tobalase, “Masculinity and Cultural Conflict in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart”).

    Read More

  • Okonkwo's Exile

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The crime was of two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had been committed the female, because it had been inadvertent. He could return to the clan after seven years (Achebe 124)". Considering it was an accident, the punishment was unbearable. Okonkwo's purpose was not to kill him meaning there should be an exceptional punishment. On the other hand, they described the crime being "female" and "male" which leads to them still being sexist. I'm assuming it’s called a female crime becausewomen are weak, they're too powerless to deliberately kill someone, and men are fearless. With that in mind, naming the crime by gender isn’t the respectable towards women. They see them as defenseless, and think they were created to cook or carry their children. Women are more than

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Things Fall Apart

    465 Words  | 1 Pages

    Masculinity and femininity are both a part of life. However, there is a price to pay for overemphasizing masculinity. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe uses Okonkwo’s life to illustrate the costs of being overly concerned with manliness.

    Read More

  • Who Is Okonkwo Manly

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Feminism In Things Fall Apart

    1833 Words  | 4 Pages

    Okonkwo sees his father’s gentleness as a feminine trait. He works hard to be as masculine as possible so that he will be the opposite of his father and overcome the shame his father brought to his family. Okonkwo deals with this struggle throughout the entire book, hiding the intense fear of weakness behind a masculine façade (Nnoromele 149). In order to appear masculine, he is often violent. In his desire to be judged by his own worth and not by the worth of his effeminate father, Okonkwo participates in the killing of a boy he sees as a son, even though his friends and other respected tribe members advise him against it. (Hoegberg 71). Even after the killing of Ikamefuna, Okonkwo hides his feelings of sadness because the emotions are feminine to him. He goes so far as to ask himself, “when did you become a shivering old woman” (Achebe 65), while he is inwardly grieving. The dramatic irony of the secret fears that Okonkwo has will open the reader’s eyes to how important gender identity is to him. This theme is also presented among Okonkwo’s children. He sees his oldest son, Nwoye, as feminine because he does not like to work as hard as his father (Stratton 29). When Nwoye eventually joins the Christian church, Okonkwo sees him as even more feminine. On the other hand, Okonkwo’s

    Read More

More about Things Fall Apart Masculinity Essay

Open Document