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Masculinity In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

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Chinua Achebe’s 1958 literary classic, Things Fall Apart (Achebe, 1958), is renowned for its authentic account of the black African experience. Set in post-colonial Nigeria, the fictional novel discusses the cultural roots of the Igbos and follows the life of the tragic hero, Okonkwo. This acclaimed novel deals with strong patriarchal ideals of masculinity within the Igbo culture and how Okonkwo is a direct manifestation of this. Achebe depicts the relationship between masculinity and both male and female characters, and how this, in turn, has an effect on Okonkwo’s relationships. The strongest relationship in the novel is between father (Okonkwo) and daughter (Ezinma); their bond is strong because Ezinma is everything Okonkwo would want in a son. This affects and can also be seen as a reflection of Okonkwo’s other relationships between male characters, namely Unoka, Nwoye, and Ikemefuna. This essay will discuss how Achebe portrays masculinity in Things Fall Apart (Achebe, 1958), how the hyper-masculinized character, Okonkwo, receives and interacts with certain characters. I will also discuss how Okonkwo’s ridged patriarchal ideals of virility are counterintuitive with his actions and intentions of ensuring a masculine household. Okonkwo is a titled and successful warrior in his village, Umuofia. A great amount of respect is received by Okonkwo because his youth did not promise such a prosperous life, he had to work hard for his wealth and success. There are certain
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Okonkwo is known throughout all nine villages for his self-wealth, strength but most of all his anger and temper. He is irrational and does not think logically, but thinks through his fists. He is incapable of showing remorse or emotion, and due to this lack of emotion, when someone starts to agitate him he immediately fights. Whether it be domestic violence towards his wife and children or picking fights with neighbors challenging him. Okonkwo’s family relationships make him a sympathetic character because he provides for his family which is what his father could not do and an unsympathetic character because of the constant domestic violence when something is not done to his expectations.

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Katherine Gerhardt Ms. Gagnon English Honors 25 January 2018 Nwoye’s Response To Cultural Change A sense of identity is often acquired and developed by everyone as they mature, but it is always changing as culture changes. The novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, follows the development of several characters in response to a cultural shock caused by the westernization of the Ibo tribe in Nigeria. The protagonist of the book, Okonkwo, is a strong, diligent leader and supercilious warrior of the tribe who obsesses over his masculine image.

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Things Fall Apart: Literary Analysis In Things Fall Apart, a realistic fiction novel authored by Chinua Achebe, literary devices are used in numerous ways. Imagery, Allusions, Metaphors, and many others are used to develop several essential themes and ideas throughout the extent of the story. One key, elaborate, idea maintained throughout Things Fall Apart is the idea of masculinity and femininity as perceived by the main character, Okonkwo, and the whole of Umuofian culture. In summary, Achebe uses several literary devices and techniques to express many views on the abstract, subjective, concepts of masculinity and femininity.

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The critically acclaimed novella, titled “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe is written from the perspective of the protagonist, Okonkwo; who holds a very traditional Ibo tribe cultural perspective on what masculinity is, which readers are exposed to repeatedly throughout the story. Although, different perspectives on the matter are observed through characters such as Nwoye, Okonkwo’s oldest son, who had a different idea about true masculinity in comparison to his more extreme father. Okonkwo shows his support for Both Okonkwo and Nwoye’s ideas on masculinity are compared to the European culture and norms towards the end of the book. Both Nwoye and Okonkwo weigh the European culture differently, and react to the conflicting ideologies in different manners;

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Achebe stated that the primary purpose of his novel “Things Fell Apart” was, “…to help my society regain belief in itself and put away the complexes of the years of denigration and self-abasement” (Gagiano, 2014, p. 1075). To accomplish that goal, the protagonist of his novel had to lose everything that was dear in his life, including his station in the community. The African view of a person does not take into consideration only the individual; the status is in fact defined by the position and standing in the community itself (Oyowe, 2014). Again, to lose that standing is devastating to the

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“Things fall apart, even when you think they’re stronger than you ever imagined.” ‘Things Fall Apart’, by Chinua Achebe is a book about about the struggles of an African man named Okonkwo and his families life falls apart right before their very eyes. It’s a son duty to carry on the families traditions in this tribe. Although in this story that’s not the case, Okonkwo struggles to get his eldest son Nwoye to act more like a man and less like a woman. Ezinma is Okonkwos favorite child and he wishes that she was a boy because she has all the traits and actions a young man should have.

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Prompt 2 Every hero of a story, either great or disappointing, has a flaw; Achebe writes the character Okonkwo to examine his flaw: fear of failing tradition. Umuofia is a land where the concept of tradition is ending due to the colonization of the white man. For example, Okonkwo's own son, Nwoye, joins the new church and Okonkwo is livid. He thought, “ To abandon the gods of one’s father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens was the very death of abomination,” (Achebe 153).

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The novel, Things Fall Apart, tells the life story about Okonkwo, who is a clansmen of the Ibo tribe, which is located in Nigeria. Okonkwo is a famous wrestler, a skilled farmer and a respected leader, in spite of his modest upbringing. The novel is told through Okonkwo’s chauvinist point of view, where he accepts the theory that man is everything, and women is nothing (Bite & Bite, 2013). Okonkwo supports and encourages the traditional gender divisions, and regards women as weak, and powerless human beings. Okonkwo, like other clansmen, are known to call men, who are considered to be weak, worthless or those who carry no title, “Agbala”, which stands for, women-like.

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The contrast between masculinity and femininity is a concept that has been examined throughout history. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe makes a strong claim that individuals most exhibit both masculine and feminine characteristics in order for society to function successfully. The need for balance between the two is demonstrated through the failures of Okonkwo and his father, who gravitate towards opposite extremes. Okonkwo, the main character within the novel, is heavily influenced by the failures of his father, Unoka. He was a very lazy man and as a result was in substantial debt.

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The tale of the Igbo in Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, is a progressive story of change in a culture. Okonkwo, a well respected warrior and leader in the tribe of Umuofia stands center stage as readers follow his life as a man in a disintegrating culture. With the arrival of missionaries, banishments, and an abundance of yams, Okonkwo’s story helps paint a picture of British imperialism in Africa during the 19th century. As the progression of the story picks up steam, Okonkwo’s fear, defiance, and traditionalism are the driving forces, they control his life, his family, and leave an imprint upon his village and the British.

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Reflection of Traditional African Igbo Culture in Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart Sikandar Kadar Aga Abstract: The aim of this present research paper is to highlight the insights of the traditional African Igbo culture, as represented in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. Achebe in the novel Things Fall Apart portrays Igbo culture objectively and moreover he does not show sympathy to Igbo culture, rather he explains Igbo culture with its own merits and limitations. In the novel Achebe has given vivid description of landscape, food, religion, customs, festivals, laws, superstitions, etc.

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The novel, “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe talks about post colonial life of Nigerian society and transformation by the Europeans. In the novel, things fall apart for the lead character Okonkwo, who was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness. Okonkwo was a man of action and a war, he was not afraid of war but all his life was dominated by this one fear of being unsuccessful and lazy like his father. So, he lived a life completely opposite to which his father lived. In this story we get an exclusive view of fear, masculinity, family, missionaries and racism.

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Aristotle described a Tragic Hero as a superior man of lofty class who plays tragic imperfections and discovers his fate by his own proceedings. Similarly, in Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart”, Okonkwo is a protagonist and also considered a tragic hero who commits tragic flaws, experiences a remarkable reversal and recognition, who holds a position of power and prestige in Umuofia but his tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure and later discovering his fate soon after his action. Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. Okonkwo’s tragedy did not only involve him and his family, it also involved the whole society. He started as a sharecropper with no inheritance from his father.

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Things Fall Apart consists of numerous tragedies and calamities. The novel contains situations which are unimaginable to have to experience. Primarily, tragedy befalls the protagonist of the novel, Okonkwo. Through implementing Aristotle’s criteria of a tragic hero and by using extracts from Things Fall Apart, I will discuss the extent to which I personally feel this undesirable and unfortunate ‘title’ can be added to Okonkwo’s revered existing titles.

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‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe is an illustration of Achebe’s real life experiences. It is portrayed through using of Okonkwo as a central character in the novel. In fact, it is the tragedy of an individual and the society as a whole. Despite being written in 1958 and set in Nigeria, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe understands much like Greek tragedy. It is the event that most of the principles from Aristotle theory of tragedy in the Poetics throughout the novel, and contributes to the improvement of the central character and the events of the plot.

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