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Examples Of Masculinity In Things Fall Apart

419 Words2 Pages

In the text “Things Fall Apart”, Okonkwo defines masculinity in a variety of ways. Okonkwo defines masculinity by showing emotion of anger, being violent, being ill-considered, and not being able to able to express his feelings when dealing with different situations. He basically had problems with controlling his emotions. This viewpoint impacted characters such as his wives, and his son. An example of such would be … “He was ruler heavily over his household”. (Achebe, Chinua pg. 914) The viewpoint of his masculinity that impacted his wives is his “fiery temper.” (Achebe, Chinua pg. 914). An example of the impact is: they feared his temper because of the way he would get angry. Instead of finding other alternatives to release his anger, for example, “he would pounce and use his fists on people.” (Achebe, Chinua pg. 911). More than likely they were possible victims of his actions. He was boisterous towards his wives. He commanded them to do things that he should have done being a man. …show more content…

He would beat them. He beat his wife Ojiugo. For example, “He beat her intensely for going to plaiting her hair at her friend’s house and not getting home in time to cook and prepare food.” (Achebe, Chinua pgs. 920-921). It is clear that he did not have respect for women altogether because of the way he treated his wives. He also beat is second wife. (Achebe, Chinua pg. 924). He beat her because she killed the banana tree. (Achebe, Chinua pg. 924). He

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