Masculinity In Things Fall Apart

During the 1890s, “Men are strong, not weak, successful, not failures, and they are most certainly not fearful,” was an expectation. Despite coming from an underprivileged family, Okonkwo from the novel Things Fall Apart managed to become a reputable “man” that would inevitably get outweighed by the odds. Okonkwo’s physical strength was truly a gift at first, but it eventually ended up being a curse depicting toxic masculinity. Unoka, known as Okonkwo’s father, was shunned by his own comrades. Even his own son hated him for that. “In his day he was too lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow. If any money came his way, and it seldom did, he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine…” (pg2 Achebe) Unoka was notably

Gradually throughout the novel, it became more noticeable that “ his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” (pg13 Achebe) His obsession with his hate towards his father became more than just hate. Fear drove him to insanity. It is important to note that Okonkwo saw emotion as weak. Evidently, killing Ikemefuna, a child that saw Okonkwo as his father, took a toll on Okonkwo. Was it that he had sympathy for the child and felt bad? "When did you become a shivering old woman," Okonkwo asked himself, "you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valour in war? 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." (pg 65 Achebe) This comes to show that Okonkwo is not the emotionless man that he wants himself to be because he let his emotions slip out of his control. Toxic masculinity causes men to feel inclined to show their strength at all times, leaving no room for vulnerability. “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.” (pg 28 Achebe) Anything related to emotion was perceived to be “soft” in Okonkwo’s eyes. Knowing that he holds in his “woman-like” emotions, it can be inferred that he is mentally unstable because of his toxic ideals. Ultimately, his instability led to his