ipl-logo

Masculinity In Things Fall Apart

409 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Masculinity essay introduction

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the expectations of manliness give Okonkwo a crutch against his fears and insecurities. Masculinity is an integral part of the culture of the Igbo people. “Yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on yams… was a very great man indeed.” (Achebe 33) The symbolism of yams being the livelihood provided by the traditional man shows how men have very specific and important roles in this primarily agricultural society. The “ideal man” Okonkwo is very aggressive and violent. “Perhaps Okonkwo down in his heart was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear…” (Achebe 13) He as a person might not be so aggressive, but the expectations of the tribe and his own fears abet his violence …show more content…

For instance, Okonkwo and the tribe expect strength from a man. This leads to many problems, such as the fact that Okonkwo struggles to face and understand his own emotions, specifically after killing Ikemefuna. “How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number?” (Achebe 65) In this scenario, Okonkwo’s experience in shutting out “weakness” handicaps him. Furthermore, when Nwoye breaks away from tradition and norms to follow the Christians, Okonkwo damages his relationship with the boy through his aggression and stubbornness. “But he left hold of Nwoye, who walked away and never returned.” (Achebe 152) Following this, again linked to the Christians, is the beginning of the end for Okonkwo. The devious and sly white man is faced by Okonkwo’s masculine aggression. “We should have killed the white man if you had listened to me,’ Okonkwo snarled.” (Achebe 195) His attempts are fruitless, “Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umofia would not go to war.” (Achebe 205) His masculine pride and aggression encourages him to stand and fight, even when everyone else will not. When the others do not fight as he does, he is lost. His unwillingness to give up or adapt and his inability to cope with unfamiliar feelings of weakness because of expectations of strength from a man leads him to end his own

Show More
Related
802 Words | 4 Pages

Okonkwo’s aggressive ways caused Nwoye to rely on Ikemefuna, A boy given to Okonkwo by a neighboring village, as an older brother who teaches him a more gentle form of masculinity. The bond between Nwoye and Ikemefuna was stronger than the bond between Nwoye and Okonkwo ever was because of Okonkwo’s refusal to demonstrate affection towards his son as it could make him appear weak. However, because of the death of Ikemefuna, Nwoye fears having to return to the harsh values of his father. Okonkwo’s stubborn ideas of masculinity ruined his relationship with his son beyond repair. Okonkwo’s refusal to show emotion towards his family pushed them apart which shows that Okonkwo is not willing to give up his stern values and reputation to be emotionally committed to his family.

Read More
462 Words | 2 Pages

Previous studies have suggested that African Americans are more likely to prefer aggressive end-of-life (EOL) care. However, the relationship of low health literacy on EOL decision-making has not been investigated. The researchers hypothesized that health literacy, not race, would predict preferences for care at EOL. They also hypothesized that a video of a patient with advanced dementia would overcome communication barriers associated with low health literacy. A total of 144 subjects participated in the study, 80 African Americans and 64 whites.

Read More
387 Words | 2 Pages

Also, later on, a meeting is called with people from all of the nine villages in attendance. Okonkwo and his friend, Obierika, are looking for Egonwanne, a man Okonkwo believes will cause trouble and suggest against going to war. When asked how he knows that this man will be a problem, Okonkwo replies, “Because I know he is a coward” (Achebe 202). Because of who his father was, Okonkwo does not like anyone who is a coward. Therefore, he unjustly does not like this man.

Read More
755 Words | 4 Pages

China Achebe demonstrates the disrespect the Ibo men had for woman in Things Fall Apart by depicting verbal and physical abuse within the community. The men have control over a woman through power of authority. This physical and verbal abuse lets the men of the society feel empowerment over the woman. “ Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” Achebe 12.

Read More
728 Words | 3 Pages

In most fairy tales and novels a humble male role is used to dictate the normality of writing. In “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo, a strong male role is not only that, a lead character, but he is also cruel and prone to violent tendencies In the novel Okonkwo experiences harsh changes when the white men first came and at the beginning of colonialism. In “Things Fall Apart”, Achebe uses Okonkwo to display the negative change in everyday Igbo culture after colonialism. In this novel by Achebe, before colonialism was introduced, Okonkwo was a known masculine member of Umuofia.

Read More
1027 Words | 5 Pages

When Okonkwo first returns back from his exile and hears the news of the white man in Umuofia, his anger increases that no one is trying to fight them. Even after his friend Obierika tells him about how the village Abame was destroyed by similar white missionaries Okonkwo simply thinks “Abame people were weak and foolish. Why did they not fight back... We would be cowards to compare ourselves to the men of Abame” (175). Okonkwo 's aggression blinds him to the dangers of rebelling against the white man, that he is willing to risk the destruction of his whole village just to satisfy his ideology of respecting his religion.

Read More
924 Words | 4 Pages

In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo reacts to cultural collision in his society by having a closed mind and attempting to retaliate, which ultimately leads to his suicide, contributing to the novel’s theme that one

Read More
786 Words | 4 Pages

Okonkwo devotes his life to becoming the opposite of his unsuccessful father. This need to become masculine introduces his fear: “But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of

Read More
479 Words | 2 Pages

This springs a collision between Okonkwo and Nwoye. Nwoye wants to become Christian and Okonkwo does not approve of what the white men introduced to the Ibo culture. There were other people in the clan like Okonkwo that went against their faith and claimed that everything the Christians believe in was false. Nwoye knows his father has a bad temper and so when Okonkwo found out that he wanted to convert, Nwoye knew that it would cause conflict, and Okonkwo would want to kill him. " Answer me," roared Okonkwo, "before I kill you!"

Read More
1119 Words | 5 Pages

The novel "Thing's fall apart" by Chinua Achebe is a complex work that masterfully establishes and develops characters through their experience with cultural collision. The way that Achebe accomplishes carefully weaving his implicit claim throughout the work is such a beautiful subtlety that it deserves to be analyzed. The Igbo's pride is constantly challenged by the colonizers as they gain increasingly more power in Africa. The idea of pride is constantly developed throughout the thoughts and actions of the novels protagonist Okonkwo. His response to the colonizers is influenced by his own views on pride and is used by Achebe to illustrate his own opinion on pride.

Read More
965 Words | 4 Pages

In the book “Things Fall Apart“ Okonkwo is a very strong man and from time to time he starts showing his true self. He has a lot of responsibilities and other things he has to do around the living environment and interact with lots of people. Okonkwo changes from being that strong man, to a man who feels like his tribe is not with him when he wants to go to war with the missionaries. For someone like Okonkwo a lot of people looks up to him and while in the tribe Okonkwo beats his wives and children. Not good behavior for someone who is supposedly looked at as strong.

Read More
855 Words | 4 Pages

Among those of the same culture, individuals who are adaptive and open-minded can be successful when there is cultural collision. When the Igbo and European cultures collide, Okonkwo gradually spirals out of control, losing everything he values and his own sense of self. From the beginning of the novel, Achebe depicts Okonkwo as a virile warrior and a successful farmer within the Igbo tribe. Reacting with violence to anything he considers “womanly” or “weak”, “He was a man of action and man of war” (10). Because of his reputation as a warrior he is highly respected by his community.

Read More
895 Words | 4 Pages

His fear of weakness and failure is derived from his father, Unoka’s failures, which ignite Okonkwo’s misogynistic views. Throughout his lifetime, Okonkwo associates femininity with weakness because of Unoka, who was called an “agbala” or woman by the people of Umuofia. Since women have this reputation for weakness, Okonkwo lives with constant fear that he will be given the same title as his father. Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye’s effeminacy reminds Okonkwo of his own father. He says, "I have done my best to make Nwoye grow into a man, but there is much of his mother in him ."(Achebe, 66).

Read More
1890 Words | 8 Pages

Fear is the core cause of the dramatic shift of lifestyle for both Okonkwo and Nwoye. Through the management of reputation and the avoidance of their father’s likeness, Okonkwo and Nwoye built new lives for themselves. Okonkwo sought power and authority to prove his masculinity and make up for Unoka’s reputation as a weak man. He did this to the point where manliness became his character. Fearlessness and violence were masculine qualities that in Igbo culture signifies strength and influence.

Read More
702 Words | 3 Pages

TFA Essay Our lives are centered around our culture and beliefs, we are influenced by our peers about our beliefs to the point where it may cause things to fall apart, with many up and down situations. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, we learn about an Ibo culture that believe in male masculinity and dominance, expected from a very young age for boys to be very masculine and rule over women.

Read More

More about Masculinity In Things Fall Apart

Related Topics

Open Document