Okonkwo Gender Expectations

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Recommended: Societal gender norms

Many cultures are very different from one another they often times have different traditions or way of living. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe he writes about a society during precolonial times in Nigeria, the Ibo. Ibo society has many gender expectations as we follow Okonkwo, the main character, it becomes very evident that both male and female gender expectations play a huge role in their life. In Things Fall Apart gender expectations build burdens such as men held to high standards, women required to be submissive, and men expected to be masculine.
Firstly, in Ibo society men are held to high standards. The main character, Okonkwo, son of Unoka is not pleased with his father's lack of responsibility, laziness, and failure …show more content…

Achebe describes a scene where Okonkwo reveals how he feels about a young boy he is taking care of but will not express it openly. The novel states, “Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy- inwardly of course. Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show affection was a sign of weakness,-the only thing worth demonstrating was strength” (Achebe 28). This represents how Okonkwo really feels about the boy but because he is a man he can't express his emotions because he needs to keep his strong image. He does not want other men to think he is not masculine. Another example is found where Achebe describes the killing of the young boy Okonkwo was taking care of which reveals how Okonkwo maintains his image. The novel states, “As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away… he heard Ikemefuna cry my father, they have killed me! as he ran towards him dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak ” (Achebe 61). This shows how although Okonkwo was hurt by killing him he had to do it so he would not ruin his image of a masculine man. He did not want the other men to think that he was weak, that would be the worse things that could happen to him as a

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