Achebe writes, "But he now knew that they were for foolish women and children, and he knew that his father wanted him to be a man. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women's stories" (Achebe 38)
In fact, "The Igbo people believe that the mother plays a major role in society. The movements and confrontations in the Igbo society, described by Achebe, do not militate against the position of women in society" (Njoku 36)
The other wives drank in the same way, in their proper order, and went away. (Achebe 18-19) In this passage there is a glimpse of the power that women held, though there is also a strong sense of the subservient role of women
Gender is clearly defined by Achebe in Things Fall Apart as wholly patriarchal, in both the colonial as well as the Igbo cultures and women are portrayed as powerless, subservient while men are the holders of all decisions and property. In many ways it can be argued that post-colonial criticism was born out of a feminist or gender studies tradition, and this is especially true of African literature and criticism (Mohan 30) as well as revisionist literature (which Things Fall Apart clearly is) and yet many also argue that Achebe leaves out the important questions of gender in his text, as a narrative tool and as a misreading of the real feminine power found in historical African culture
In many ways it can be argued that post-colonial criticism was born out of a feminist or gender studies tradition, and this is especially true of African literature and criticism (Mohan 30) as well as revisionist literature (which Things Fall Apart clearly is) and yet many also argue that Achebe leaves out the important questions of gender in his text, as a narrative tool and as a misreading of the real feminine power found in historical African culture. (Stratton 90) (Osei-Nyame 155) the argument by many feminist and gender studies critics is that Achebe has missed an opportunity to allow real egalitarian traditions within the African and specifically the Igbo culture to be demonstrated and that he has replaced this opportunity with expressions of extreme patriarchal identity
In many ways it can be argued that post-colonial criticism was born out of a feminist or gender studies tradition, and this is especially true of African literature and criticism (Mohan 30) as well as revisionist literature (which Things Fall Apart clearly is) and yet many also argue that Achebe leaves out the important questions of gender in his text, as a narrative tool and as a misreading of the real feminine power found in historical African culture. (Stratton 90) (Osei-Nyame 155) the argument by many feminist and gender studies critics is that Achebe has missed an opportunity to allow real egalitarian traditions within the African and specifically the Igbo culture to be demonstrated and that he has replaced this opportunity with expressions of extreme patriarchal identity
It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father" (Achebe 13)
The plot revolves around the slow and steady demise of the community. The white man's arrival was a "source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan" (Achebe 143)
Throughout the story, it is clear the Ibo live and love the natural world, and Achebe uses metaphors to show their closeness to the land: "Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too. If one says no to the other, let his wing break" (Achebe 21-22)
In Okonkwo's family, the first view is represented by his father, Unoka, who has made a failure of his life (Chun). Similarly, his son by his first wife, Nwoye, reminds Okonkwo of his father's weakness, and is therefore described as "effeminate" (Achebe 143)
Conversely, if a woman shows herself to be strong and capable, she is likened to a man. In Okonkwo's family, the first view is represented by his father, Unoka, who has made a failure of his life (Chun)
. he immediately bought gourds of palm wine, called round his neighbors and made merry" (Achebe 4)
There is gang violence and such, but warfare is not condoned between Americans, but it does exist between other countries and America. Achebe writes, "When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor 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'" (Achebe 56)
The village life is mostly simple, peaceful, and very unsophisticated. Two other critics note, "The villagers of Umuofia live in a well-ordered society, with intricate social customs that are clearly designed to work for the benefit of the community as a whole" (Booker and Gikandi 247)
They also lived close to the land, relying on natural resources for most of their housing and needs. An Ibo historian writes, "The houses, the general environment, the dependence upon local natural resources, and the contentment with the barest modicum of those articles which are usually regarded as indispensable in a household, all these, together with the easy-going spirit amongst the village folk, foster and maintain a life of extreme simplicity" (Ogbaa 89)
Not only does Ekwefi defy the authority of her husband, society and religion, she conquers her own and the clan's fear of the dark as she pursues Chielo in the night: "Darkness held a vague terror for these people, even the bravest among them." (Achebe, 7) The strength and courage displayed by Ekwefi is paralleled in Rukmani's savage attack of a shadowy figure in her home who she perceives to be Kunthi, a threat to her family's welfare: "
But by page 3 Begam is ready to paint a picture of Okonkwo that is not so perfect and brave. After all, according to Aristotelian history, any hero also has flaws, and certainly Okonkwo has his flaws: to wit, "…whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists" (Achebe, p
I was disturbed very seriously," the author replied. A "healthy culture" will survive this kind of foreign and cultural intervention, he continued, but it will not survive "exactly in the form in which it was met by the invading culture" (Anyadike, 2007, p
Richard Begam -- History and Tragedy in Things Fall Apart In his scholarly piece in the journal Contemporary Literary Criticism, Begam discusses culture in the context of the postcolonial dynamics four years after the Nigerian independence, by quoting the author Achebe from four years after the independence movement had succeeded. "African people did not hear of culture for the first time from Europeans," Achebe explained; "…their societies were not mindless but frequently had a philosophy of great depth and value and beauty" (Begam, 1997, p
Begam makes that point because the messenger sent and killed was not a European; he was a fellow Igbo. Possibilities and Pitfalls of Ethnographic Readings -- Carey Snyder Carey Snyder writes about the 25th and final chapter in the novel -- in which Okonkwo hangs himself -- commenting that the final chapter represents "a dramatic shift of perspective" (Snyder, 2008, p