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Sexism In Things Fall Apart

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While gender plays a different role in every society, it is undeniable that women have been considered inferior since the beginning of time. However, within postcolonial societies, the issues of feminism versus colonization often places decolonization and stabilization of society over women’s rights. This complex relationship presents itself in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. However, the species of sexism faced by women in both novels highly differs, with Achebe’s being a more physically violent type and Conrad’s a genuinely undermining type. While both authors portray an offensive view of women, Conrad’s view is not as visibly harmful as Achebe’s. By exploring the depiction of women in each novel, …show more content…

In the tribe, masculinity and strength are romanticized to an unhealthy point, but due to Okonkwo’s disappointment and embarrassment of his father, he aggressively follows these norms. By placing women in a subservient role, he maintains control in his family life: “‘Do what you are told, woman’” (Achebe 14). This dominance over women is present throughout the entire novel, showing Okonkwo’s need to prove himself as a masculine figure, not only to himself but to his tribe, as well. Additionally, Okonkwo frequently uses extreme punishment, such as beating his wives or threatening them: “Okonkwo...ran madly into his room for the loaded gun, ran out again and aimed at her” (39). By exploiting his wives through violence, he deters them from ever speaking out against him. He also undermines any opinions his wives may have, because women are irrational and emotional beings, therefore incapable of having intellectual thought. Because womanly traits are considered inferior and the ultimate insult is to be compared to a woman, the women cannot subvert the men and societal norms present that oppress them. To further maintain these norms, men also have strict gender expectations that are blatant opposites of womanly traits. For example, men are stoic, violent beings, whereas women are emotional and weak. The patriarchy present in the tribe is detrimental to both genders, however, it

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“Women are just as good as men” Male. That one word causes many women in the Igbo culture to hate themselves because they are not one of them. They have to sit and act like a girl because if not, the men in their society would ridicule them. The idea that men are superior to women seemed normal to the Igbo, but to readers of Things Fall Apart it sounded sexist.

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(Attwood.63) In the social construct of the narrator’s household, the wife is the woman with the most power, she controls most of the house activities with the commander (husband) away. When the narrator first comes in there is an establishment of a hierarchy. The wife has never questioned her husband for having multiple affairs and having total control over her however she does feel the threat of the narrator and she aims her authority towards the narrator; thus contributing to the sexist system that keeps women under domination.

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Okonkwo was a big supporter of physical and verbal abuse in his home, especially towards his wives and Nwoye. To Okonkwo, physical abuse was another language. This is how he spoke, and punished, on the occasion of the abuse, and how he had handled the situation. Women was treated poorly in Umuofia because men believe that they were weak and in inadequate. “ Even as a little boy Okonkwo had represented his father 's failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was Agbala.

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In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, we come across two women Mariam and Laila, who endure extreme hardships that most women across the world experience. In the following essay I am going to critically discuss the statement that says "A Thousand Splendid Suns shows the social and cultural- and, ultimately political structures that support the devaluation, degradation, and violence endured by Mariam and Laila". This will be done by focusing on the events that take pace in

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In the Ibo society, and many other cultures, women are overlooked by the men. The women are thought to be inferior, weak, overly-sensitive, incapable of taking care of themselves. It is in these same patriarchal societies that the men are dependent on the women’s care: placing food on the table, raising the children, taking care of the house. As seen in Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo relies on the labor of his multiple female counterparts. He mistreats their care, as the women and children endure his irrational anger, and physical and verbal abuse.

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“Okonkwo made a sound full of disgust. This was a womanly clan, he thought.” (159) If Okonkwo takes “womanly” to be synonymous with weak or showing weakness, then he is unerringly accurate. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo comes to terms with the fact that his fellow tribesmen are not as dauntless and unwavering as they were first portrayed.

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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.

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The way the gender roles in his society were set up was the women had to always obey the men. This causes Okonkwo to be strict so he can manage his household. But the effect

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The Renaissance and the Reformation; some say these movements were when Pandora’s Box was opened, leading to many of the great crises of the present. Others say it was when modernity was born, leading to innovation and progress, and others say it was a time of unprecedented tragedy, Christendom was torn asunder, brother turned against brother, and sister against sister. Despite these extremely varying opinions however, no one denies that the time of Renaissance and Reformation was a turning of the tide, whether for good or for ill. For many at the time this turning of the tide seemed only to have extreme philosophical or theological implications however, in hindsight, the Renaissance and the Reformation or “the Revolt” as its opposers would say, had immense political, cultural, and

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According to Okonkwo’s tribe, the Igbo, masculinity is being strong, aggressive, and nourishing. Femininity is being weak, loving, compassionate, and devotional. Achebe highlights the definitions of masculinity and femininity to show that Okonkwo’s hypermasculinity causes his downfall. Okonkwo is trying to act too masculine and by completely rejecting feminine qualities, he sets up his destiny to be his downfall. The first instance in which things fall apart for Okonkwo is when a tribute from another village has to stay with Okonkwo for three years.

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Segregation was a huge controversy between the white and colored for many long years. Such as cases that will not allow blacks or whites to marry a different color than their own color, children not allowed to go to public schools with white children, or being able to sit in a white compartment. Many cases were lead up to segregation and the blacks wanted their freedom, equal rights, and being treated like a human being. They were not seen in white folks eyes as equal citizens, they wanted to change that. The Supreme Court has made many decisions to impact segregation: Plessy vs. Ferguson, Brown vs. Education, and Loving vs. Virginia

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Many critics, including A.M. Roberts and Haydar Ali, have expressed their discontent regarding the sexism in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Feminist writer Simone the Beauvoir explains her theory on the social stance of women in her book The Second Sex. In the chapter Myth and Reality this theory can be applied to several women described in “Heart of Darkness”. Both the intended and the African mistress of Kurtz are examples of a false sense of ‘mystery’ which places them in a separate group in society that de Beauvoir describes in The Second Sex.

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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).

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The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man.

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He was a caring man down in his heart but “his whole life was dominated by the fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13), and his mission to become one of the greatest men of his clan. Okonkwo was devoted to masculinity, he put it above anything else preventing anyone from questioning his masculinity. When he felt a slight sign of weakness it reminded him of his fathers failure to being a true man not providing for his family or ruling women and his children, therefore “he was not really a man” (Achebe 53).There were many traits to being a masculine man but to Okonkwo the main one was ruling his wife and children, if any of them had disobeyed him he would beat them without hesitation or regret. Although Okonkwo is influenced by masculinity it is because the Ibo culture believes in men dominating women which leads their society to fall

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