Masculinity/Feminity, Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Masculine/Feminine
In most cultures an individual’s gender will influence their characterization. For instance, Ibo tribes in Africa classify people according to their gender. Women are thought as submissive individuals who are to some extent weaker than men. Men on the other hand are thought of as strong beings with much expected from them. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart strongly emphasizes on the categorization of masculinity and femininity in the society of Ibo tribes. Throughout the book, Okonkwo’s idea about masculinity situates him with respect to his community. In his community Okonkwo is greatly praised for his masculine traits. It is Okonkwo integration with masculinity that leads to him becoming an “outcast” in his community and to him committing suicide. According to Okonkwo it was better dead then to summit to femininity, any feminine action on a man’s behalf is considered to be humiliating his reputation. Okonkwo’s father Unoka is an example of a man with a humiliating reputation. Unoka is a failure in his community and considered an “unsuccessful” man, due to the fact that he was always borrowing money and his family suffers from hunger. “When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt.” (p.8) For this reason Unoka is often referred to as being agbala, which is the word for a woman or a man with no titles. Okonkwo is the opposite of his father, he is a successful man. It is because of his father that he tends to look down at feminine actions of any kind, because of this fear of becoming his father or having one of his sons become like his father.
In contrast to his father Okonkwo earns many titles and instead of being looked down upon, he is greatly admired for his achievements. Once of Okonkwo’s greatest achievement is his escapement from his father femininity and failure.
“But for a young man whose father had no yams, there was no other way. And what made it worse in Okonkwo's case was that
Masculine/Feminine
In most cultures an individual’s gender will influence their characterization. For instance, Ibo tribes in Africa classify people according to their gender. Women are thought as submissive individuals who are to some extent weaker than men. Men on the other hand are thought of as strong beings with much expected from them. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart strongly emphasizes on the categorization of masculinity and femininity in the society of Ibo tribes. Throughout the book, Okonkwo’s idea about masculinity situates him with respect to his community. In his community Okonkwo is greatly praised for his masculine traits. It is Okonkwo integration with masculinity that leads to him becoming an “outcast” in his community and to him committing suicide. According to Okonkwo it was better dead then to summit to femininity, any feminine action on a man’s behalf is considered to be humiliating his reputation. Okonkwo’s father Unoka is an example of a man with a humiliating reputation. Unoka is a failure in his community and considered an “unsuccessful” man, due to the fact that he was always borrowing money and his family suffers from hunger. “When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt.” (p.8) For this reason Unoka is often referred to as being agbala, which is the word for a woman or a man with no titles. Okonkwo is the opposite of his father, he is a successful man. It is because of his father that he tends to look down at feminine actions of any kind, because of this fear of becoming his father or having one of his sons become like his father.
In contrast to his father Okonkwo earns many titles and instead of being looked down upon, he is greatly admired for his achievements. Once of Okonkwo’s greatest achievement is his escapement from his father femininity and failure.
“But for a young man whose father had no yams, there was no other way. And what made it worse in Okonkwo's case was that