Throughout Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, the main character repeatedly mentions about “becoming a woman” (Achebe 45). This story takes place in the 1800’s about a man named Okonkwo revealing the way he feels about gender roles. In his novel, Chinua Achebe uses figurative language and foreshadowing to show the readers what gender stereotypes means in Umuofia. While Okonkwo was having his meal he told Ezinma,“Sit like a woman” (Achebe 44). This demonstrates he supports the fact that a woman is expected to sit properly on a chair. He also stands by the fact that a women should not carry someone else’s chair. “Can I bring your chair?” “No, that’s a boy’s job” (Achebe 44). Things can go wrong if something is not along …show more content…
Ikemefuna’s death created an effect on Okonkwo. Though Ikemefuna isn’t his real son, he has always been treated like he was. This made Okonkwo feel like he has become effeminate for killing someone who once called him father. “How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number?” “Okonkwo you have become a woman indeed.” (Achebe 65) In effect of Ikemefuna’s death, Okonkwo feels that he has become soft. Masculinity happens to plays an important part to Okonkwo. In the Week of Peace, Okonkwo’s youngest wife,Ojiugo, had left and forgot to cook Okonkwo’s meal so she can plait her hair. When Ojiugo had return, he started to beat her. Okonkwo was so filled with anger, he had broken the peace of the sacred week. This action exemplifies that Okonkwo believes that a man should always have control over women no matter what. In Umuofia,
Okonkwo is known throughout Umuofia to be extremely masculine. He rarely shows signs of fear or weakness. This is because Oknokwo promised himself he would be the complete opposite of his father Unoka. Unoka had passed away ten years prior to when the story takes place but he has always been remembered as a weak, lazy, poor man who could barely provide for his family. He was always in debt and didn't care to work, he would play his flute all day everyday if he was able to. "People laughed at him because he was a loafer, and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back" (5). Unoka was the laugh of the town and Okonkwo would never allow himself be that.
What does the word gender mean to an individual? Do people believe it means different responsibilities among people? Do people believe it means equality? Gender roles play a major role in our lives. It is the heart of our self-conceptions and daily actions. In the book Things Fall Apart, Nigerian author Chinua Achebe tells about the culture of an African society. The lives and beliefs of individuals are effectively described and are easy for readers to compare and contrast to their own culture. While gender roles exist in the American society based on a Eurocentric perspective, the book Things Fall Apart portrays a different culture illustrating the roles of individuals within the Igbo tribes.
Unlike his father, Okonkwo is a hard worker with little debt and a driven personality. His internal fear leads to his decision to beat his wife during the week of peace and to take part in the mandatory action of killing his beloved son, Ikemefuna.
This next quote exhibits how much Okonkwo loves and cares for his daughter, Ezinma. “I wish she were a boy,” thought Okonkwo within himself. She understood things so perfectly (Achebe, pg. 173). A woman can’t rule a household, according to Okonkwo and his clan. If Ezinma were a boy, she could run a household and be a proud son. Okonkwo would never imagine his daughter being in charge of a house. Although Okonkwo has changed and he has more compassion for his daughter. Okonkwo also respects, and treats, women better now. When Okonkwo was exiled to 7 years to his mother's land, he grew more respect for the women in his life. Okonkwo will also never love Ikemefuna as a son. But Okonkwo changed and he does love him as a son. We can say Okonkwo kills himself because he is angry at the Christian missionaries, so he commits suicide to make an example of how much they believe in their religion. One can think after Okonkwo being so violent, when he was a young man, he realized there is more to life than
Okonkwo associates many of his tribal influences with masculinity. Right away in the book, Achebe affiliates strength with manliness. “As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalizine the Cat” (3). He is honored because he had enough strength and agility to overthrow the cat. Okonkwo feels to be successful and manly, one also must show no emotion. He thinks emotion is for the weak and for woman, and he does not want to be either of those. “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” (28). Okonkwo treats Ikemefuna with this idea. He becomes very fond of the child, but never outwardly shows his affection. If he showed his affection he was afraid he would be looked down upon in his tribe. Although his father enjoyed little things like music and dancing, Okonkwo had no desire to share his father’s enjoyment. He desired power and wealth. He wants to construct and maintain a big house for his many wives and even more children. “Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages. He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of ...
. He sets out to beat the disgrace that he feels as an impact of his Fatherhood's flopping by being what he considers to be "masculine"; along these lines, he commands his spouses and youngsters by being unfeeling and controlling. Since Okonkwo is a misfortune pioneer of his group, he is approached to administer to a Thomas Young male kid named Ikemefuna, who is given to the town as a peace offering by neighboring Mbaino to maintain a strategic distance from war with Umuofia. . Ikemefuna gets to know Okonkwo's Logos, Nwoye, and Okonkwo turns out to be deep down enamored with the
For Okonkwo, Ikemefuna grows to be like a son to him. However, Okonkwo is informed by other tribe members that they must kill Ikemefuna, due to his ties to their rival tribe. But, he is not to have a hand in the killing of his adopted son. As tribal members
Okonkwo’s father was a lazy man who basically shaped the future of Okonkwo’s life. Because of the life Onkonkwo’s father lived, he fears weakness and laziness and, in turn, becomes the exact opposite of his father. He becomes “manly,” therefore dominating and controlling his children and wives. Over the years, Okonkwo becomes a violent man. He harshly beats and shoots his second wife Ekwefi because she mishandled food for an important feast. He also punishes his youngest wife Ojiugo during the week of peace because she forgot to prepare an evening meal, which upsets his community. Ogbuefi Ezeuder, the eldest man in the village, receives a message from the Oracle that his son Ikemefuna needs to be sacrificed to Gods after the killing of a young girl somewhere among the tribe and that Okonkwo shall not be a part of it. Instead of listening to the clansmen, Okonkwo partakes in Ikemefuna’s sacrifice to show that he is “manly,” which upsets the people of his clan.
“It is better to die as a wolf than living like a dog,” stated Herbert Wehner, which was the way Okonkwo felt towards the Igbo village becoming feminized, in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo expresses anger and stress as his wife disobeys him, his son leaves the clan, and when the men in Umuofia stop defending themselves. In all these cases, Okonkwo found everyone weak and feminized, because the Igbo society was very male dominated.
Fear of failure and weakness dominates Okonkwo throughout his life. At first this fear motivates him to rise to success by working diligently and doing everything his father did not do. However, even when Okonkwo establishes an honorable reputation, fear of failure continues to overwhelm him and drives him to perform acts that lead to his suffering. One example of this is when the men of Umuofia decide that Ikemefuna must be killed and Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna even though he is told not to partake in the killing of Ikemefuna. Okonkwo panics when Ikemefuna turns to him and cries for help, and without thinking, Okonkwo slays Ikemefuna with his machete. Okonkwo does this because in the split second where Ikemefuna runs to Okonkwo for protection, Okonkwo is overpowered with fear of being seen as weak and kills Ikemefuna. This is an unwise act on behalf of Okonkwo, and as a result, he suffers emotionally in the next few days. He enters a stage of depression and cannot eat or sleep as all he can think about is what he has done to Ikemefuna. It is at this point that things start t...
Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart tells the story of the people of an Igbo village in Nigeria. In Igbo society, the traditions and gender roles are strict, and being a woman or viewed as feminine is a negative thing. Okonkwo, the novel’s protagonist values the traditions of his clan, but is controlled by the fear of being perceived as weak or effeminate. This fear causes Okonkwo to make decisions that are frowned upon by his fellow villagers, creating conflict. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe utilizes Okonkwo’s desire to be perceived as masculine through the act of putting his own interests above those of the clan in order to portray how Igbo society is negatively affected by gender roles. Gender roles are the norms and behavior that society expects each gender (male and female) to adhere to. So, for example, in the novel men are expected to provide for their families and women are expected to be submissive to their husbands. The idea of gender roles has a negative effect on Igbo society because it enslaves people to a gendered way of life that can, at times, limit people from expressing their true feelings out of
A main character in the novel, Okonkwo has several wives. He orders them around like dogs. They are never to question what they are instructed to do; they are expected to be obedient. We see this early in the story, when Okonkwo brings Ikemefuna into his home. Okonkwo tells his senior wife that Ikemefuna belongs to the tribe and that she is expected to look after him. She in turn asks him if he will be staying with them for a long period of time. This sends Okonkwo into a fury. He snaps at her in a very degrading manner, "Do what you are told woman. When did you become one of the ndichie (meaning elders) of Umuofia?"(pg.12) Clearly she receives no respect. Later in the story we see this woman try to comfort Ikemefuna. She "mothers" him as if he is one of her own children. She tries to put him at ease and can almost instinctively feel how much he misses his own mother.
Many times throughout the novel, Okonkwo harms himself by blindly trying to resist showing emotion causes relationships, lives and his own life to wither. During the week of peace, Okonkwo had found his wife not cooking dinner. He beats her for that reason causing worse consequences. Furthermore, Ikemefuna was Okonkwo’s favorite; he was a hard-working boy who obeyed Okonkwo and was pleasing to Okonkwo, and Okonkwo even regarded him as his son. However, when people were about to kill Ikemefuna,“Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down.
Okonkwo is greatly affected by the death of Ikemefuna, yet he fears displaying any sign of weakness, for it be visible that Okonkwo actually deeply cared for him. After the death of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo “did not taste any food,” for the days following the event. The situational irony of Okonkwo being affected by the death of one boy when he slaughtered 5 men implied that Ikemefuna was more than just a sacrifice from another village. Okonkwo has explained time and time again that he is a man of great strength, both emotionally and physically. He has compared himself to his fragile father, Unoka, who couldn't view the sight of blood and wasn't a man of action so by contrast, Okonkwo was a man of war.
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