The Concept of Masculinity in Things Fall Apart - Research Paper Example

The concept of Masculinity in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, is a depiction of the Igbo society of Nigeria in the 1980s in the onset of mission work and colonialism. In effect, Achebe’s work represents a collision between the traditional and cultural beliefs of the Igbo with the civilization of the colonial government from the west. The novel centers on Okonkwo, a physically powerful man whose inevitable death overshadows his rise to power, prestige, and fortune. In this regard, Achebe’s novel attributes Okonkwo’s downfall to his fascination with masculinity, rather than colonization. In effect, this fascination with masculinity becomes Okonkwo’s main weakness, with the drive primarily being the fear of failing in life like his father. Okonkwo’s fear of failure drives him to impulsiveness due to his embracement of the masculine values, which leads him to his death. In addition to fear of failure, Okonkwo’s second weakness was his constricted definition of masculinity. As a member of a male chauvinistic society, Okonkwo believed that gentleness and compassion was a sign of weakness in a man. Although the novel portrays some men showing a clear understanding of masculinity, Okonkwo comes out as an ignorant man blinded in his actions by masculinity. In addition, Okonkwo could not come to terms with the changing traditional set-up because of colonization. In this regard, Okonkwo could not comprehend how he could exist as a subject, instead of a renowned and sturdy male. Therefore, this expose elucidates on the role of the concept of masculinity in Chinua Achebes novel Things Fall Apart. Bloom noted that Achebe used “the opposition of masculinity and feminism to encapsulate the conflict between the British and the Igbo, between the mission and traditional religion” (141). In this regard, the Igbo society was patriarchal as depicted by Okonkwo’s repeated beatings of his wives. Although Okonkwo has no real reason to beat his wives, some people say that this is a sign of masculinity in Igbo traditions. On the other hand, western civilization does not advocate for wife battery. However, Okonkwo repeatedly beats his wives for irrelevant issues, which is an illustration of the Igbo culture clash with the British culture. For instance, Okonkwo beats his wife Ojiugo for failing to prepare his meal after she had gone to braid her hair at a neighbor’s place during the Week of Peace (Achebe 31). Clearly, this illustrates Okonkwo’s ignorance since he failed to respect the Week of Peace as the Igbo tradition required by beating up his wife. While such reasons of beating a wife maybe flimsy, Okonkwo beats his wife just to show her who was powerful in the household. In this regard, Booker indicates Okonkwo “shows coercive power when he beats up his wives” (249). Bloom notes, “Okonkwo is struggling to right the father’s wrongs, to make up to his family for those weaknesses and become a model for male Igbo righteousness” (147). In this regard, the fear of failing like the father consumes Okonkwo and drives him to embrace masculinity albeit in an ignorant way. Thus, the concept of masculinity plays the role of showing strength and the lack of weakness in a man. For this reason, Okonkwo wants to shape his son, Nwoye, to be like him since he fears weaknesses. In effect, Okonkwo becomes a very demanding person. Hence, Okonkwo considers Nwoye lazy and more like a woman, which is a character Okonkwo associates with Nwoye’s grandfather. Achebe supports this point by noting that “Nwoye was twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness” (p.10). Evidently, Okonkwo could not deal with such tenderness from a man; especially a man who is a relation. On one occasion, Okonkwo was unhappy with the size of the yams his son was cutting. Effectively, he told his son that, “If you split another yam of this size, I shall break your jaw” (32). In effect, such a statement illustrates Okonkwo’s catastrophic flaw in disposition, which exemplifies his obsession with masculinity. However, Bloom notes that this is overcompensation, which “is a common behavior among those seeking to restore family honor and Okonkwo was no exemption” (148). According to Booker, the concept of masculinity depicts economic power as “seen in Okonkwo’s enterprising spirit” (250). In this regard, the strength in Okonkwo helped him prosper and provide for his family, even in instances when there was drought and famine in Umuofia. Case in point, Achebe notes that Okonkwo borrowed “a hundred seed of yams, toiled hard on his farm, and realized a bountiful harvest” (18). This is in sharp contrast to his father who could not feed his family and lived in continuous debt. Indeed, Bloom supports this view and notes that, “Okonkwo blames his father for wasting his time by making music on his flute, socializing and communing with nature instead of amassing wealth and prestige for his family. Instead of making money, he borrows it and accumulates debt” (144). Thus, Okonkwo’s father lived in contrast to the beliefs of the Igbo people and expectations on men. According to Booker, “as a full-fledged adult member of the community, a man is expected to build and own his own hut, marry a wife and have children, preferably male children. He is expected to work hard daily on his farm, without feeling fatigue, or if he does, not show it” (255). However, this was not the case for Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, considered lazy by the people, and “nothing more than an agbala or woman” (Achebe 6). Therefore, the determination to avoid failure by Okonkwo led him to work more and produce enough to feed his family, even in time of drought and famine. However, he took the expectations of the society towards men beyond the pragmatic view. Bloom supports this thought by stating that, “It is clear that Okonkwo does not fully appreciate the boundaries of the real as opposed to the ideal Igbo perception of masculinity” (147). Nevertheless, the concept of masculinity depicts the achievement of economic power through hard work as showed by Okonkwo in his farm and the bountiful harvest he received unlike his weak father. It is common knowledge that masculinity means power. As a result, the most respected men in a society tend to be the strong and muscular men. Booker called this structural power and further notes that the hierarchy in a village system defines the power accorded to an individual (250). In this case, an individual does not have to be young and powerful in order for the community to respect them. However, their past exploits granted them the respect they deserved in the society. Case in point, Achebe notes that Ezeudi “was a great and fearless warrior in his time…was now accorded great respect in all the clan” (57). In this regard, masculinity in the novel was a way towards gaining respect from the whole clan. Indeed, Booker noted that, the failure of Okonkwo to respect Ezeudi’s caution not to participate in the murder of Ikemefuna caused his downfall. Therefore, Booker noted that Okonkwo went “from isolation and exile to suicide and interment in the evil forest reserved only for the dregs and other never-do-wells in the of the village community” (251). All this is attributable to the fact that Okonkwo’s ignorance could not allow him to be levelheaded and respect another powerful man in the society. In this regard, Ezeudi appears to be more than powerful Okonkwo since Okonkwo suffers the consequences of failing to respect his warning. Thus, masculinity is a way of gaining respect and honor in the society as this incidence between Ezeudi and Okonkwo illustrates. When the cultural beliefs and traditions are in danger of extinction by western civilization, the concept of masculinity plays a role in the resistance. In this regard, Bloom noted that, “Masculinity became a metaphor for resistance to these assaults since both colonial culture and society and the indigenous cultures and societies it sought to transform in theory were male-dominated ones” (142). Case in point, Okika the orator “bemoans the sacrilegious nature of the offenses, adding that in the face of adversity, the community has not seen it fit to stand together” (Booker 263). Thus, this points out to the fact that the men in the society had not started confronting the white man, and fighting him in order to protect their traditions. Bloom supports this point by noting that, “Okonkwo believed that masculinity was the glue that held the Igbo together” (144). In this case, the role of masculinity was to protect the community’s beliefs and traditions from dilution by the colonialists and missions. In effect, this would hold the society and the people of Igbo together according to Okonkwo and the rest of the Igbo people. During a meeting of the Igbo people, Okika knew “how to pick the right words and work effectively on the psychology of the people” (Booker 263). In this regard, Okika wanted the people of Igbo to realize that they have abdicated their obligations and the white man was taking over. In effect, the speech by Okika had an immediate impact. In this case, some men sent as spies by the British administration to the gathering, which Okika was addressing, faced the wrath of Okonkwo. In this case, when the spies appeared, “Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice, and the head lay beside his uniformed body” (Achebe 204). Judging from Okonkwo’s immediate reaction, the speech by Okika seemed to have awakened his masculinity and effectively led to this action. In another instance, the other messengers who escaped went to report the matter to their master who immediately went to seek redress. However, Obierika, Okonkwo’s friend, did not give the Commissioner a straightforward answer after he asked of the whereabouts of Okonkwo. In this regard, this emphasizes that masculinity and strength amongst the Igbo played a significant role in resisting the colonial rule, which was also ruthless and relied on masculinity and power to rule over the subjects. Therefore as Booker noted, “In spite of the apparent dichotomy in the degree of the social power, in the end, we can say that it is a perfect match” (264). However, on further persistence Obierika ceded some ground but did not tell the Commissioner of the exact place that Okonkwo went. In this regard, he said to the Commissioner, “We can take you where he is and perhaps your men will help us” (Achebe 205). This is a case of resisting the British administration due to the embracement of the concept of masculinity by Obierika, which makes him resist. However, this annoyed the Commissioner and he led his men into the bush where they found Okonkwo dead after committing suicide. In this regard, Booker noted that, “Obierika feels triumphant, for he recognizes that Okonkwo, his friend, has escaped the commissioner’s wrath through suicide” (260). In this case, although Obierika had lost his friend, his masculine nature is happy since the British administrator never captured Okonkwo. On the other hand, Okonkwo’s resisting masculine soul could not reconcile itself as a subject of the British, which is the reason he committed suicide. Therefore, the concept of masculinity appears to play the role of resistance to the British administration. While masculinity on one hand plays a role towards resistance, masculinity also plays a crucial role towards oppressing people in the Igbo society. In this case, the male dominated Igbo society perpetually used masculinity to oppress their wives, and the weaker beings in the society, and domineered over them. Okonkwo is an excellent illustration of a person who perpetually uses the concept of masculinity to oppress and punish his wives and son, and to punish other weaker members in the society. On the other hand, the British administration uses its strength and power to rule over the land of Umuofia. Bloom supports this point by noting that the Commissioner “gives power of speech and takes it back at will” (259). In this regard, the Commissioner exercised his powers by showing masculinity through dictating on when an individual should speak. Thus, interjecting the speech of an older man from Umuofia was an insult to the people and a show of might and masculinity by extension. In conclusion, the concept of masculinity plays a role that depicts power. It is common knowledge that muscles come with power and strength. In effect, Umuofia is not different from any society. In this regard, the concept of masculinity plays distinct roles with all these roles showing power and strength. Case in point, Okonkwo uses his strength and power to domineer over his wives, son, and other people in the society. Although this is the expectation of the Igbo society, Okonkwo takes this expectation ignorantly and goes overboard by continually beating up his wives. On the other hand, the Igbo community believed that masculinity held their society together. Thus, this led them to resist the British administration. For this reason, it was due to masculinity that Okonkwo could not reconcile with the factor of being a subject or an ordinary person. Conversely, it is through masculinity that the Commissioner rules over the land of Umuofia. Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, Random House Inc., 1959. Print. Bloom, Harold.. ed. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2010. Print. Booker, Keith M., ed. Critical Insights: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Pasadena, Salem Press, 2011. Print. Read More