Essay On Gender Roles In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, all of the male and female characters experience extreme pressure to abide by their society's strict gender roles to avoid low social rank and to “fit in” with the other clan members. The main character, Okonkwo, stands out as someone who consistently lets these expectations dictate his decisions. In colonial Nigeria, gender roles have a large impact on both males and females, and Okonkwo allows these standards to get the best of him throughout the novel and ultimately lead to his downfall. Possibly one of the most substantial influences on Okonkwo’s “manly” actions is his father, Unoka. Unoka spent most of his life in debt. He found ways to swindle other clan members and, by the time he died, he owed thousands of cowries to his neighbors and friends. Unoka was also a lazy man who did not have successful crops. He would have bad growing seasons because he was not willing to put in the work and effort that other men in the Umuofia did. Finally, Ukona was a musician, which was not honorable in the eyes of the igbo people. When describing Unoka, Achebe wrote, “He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat. People laughed at him because he was a loafer, and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid it back. But Unoka was such a man that
Okonkwo’s shameful father played a large part in Okonkwo’s initial desire to be a flawless male clan member, but it gradually snowballed into the unhealthy obsession he had by the end of the novel. To prove his superiority, Okonkwo would put down and beat his wives. He also avoided anything that may be seen as feminine, such as showing his emotions. All of these actions display how behavioral expectations got the best of Okonkwo, and other characters, throughout the