MASCULINITY IN ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART

MASCULINITY IN ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART

Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart deals with the critic of masculinity. According to the oxford dictionary, masculinity is a noun which means possession of the qualities traditionally associated with men. My essay describes the meaning or significance of the “masculinity” in the context of Igbo society.

Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his villages to his village by throwing Amalinze the cat. Amalinze was a great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino.¹

In above passage, the masculinity of Okonkwo implies on solid personal achievements. What are the solid personal achievements of Okonkwo? This question should be answer firstly.  He throws Amalinze in wrestling who was a great unbeaten wrestler for seven years. The including names of village shows the impact over the masculinity of Okonkwo. The beginning of the novel Things Fall Apart seems to be like a telling story of myths. Achebe begins the novel with simple sentences. The first line of the novel hints to the use of simple language.

The first chapter of Things Fall Apart suggests the differences between Unoka, father of Okonkwo and Okonkwo himself. These differences also signify the masculinity. Unoka is portrayed as lazy and improvident and incapable of thinking about tomorrow. He is also a debtor. The physical appearance of Unoka is significant.

He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. He wore a beggared and mournful look except when he was drinking or playing or playing his flute. Unoka, grown up was a failure, he was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat².

The description of Okonkwo as a wrestler and description of his father, Unoka as a thin and weak in the context of physical appearance as well as mentally or economically insinuates the notion of masculinity. Okonkwo does not fear of war. He is a man of action. His father Unoka can’t see the blood and he does not like war.

             . . . [Okonkwo] was not afraid of war. He was a man of action, a man of war. Unlike his father he could stand the look of blood. In Umuofia’s latest war he was the first to bring home a human head. That was his fifth head; and he was not an old man yet. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head³ . 

In chapter three, unoka goes to consult Agbala. Chika says to Unoka- “Go home and work like a man”.  This advice also signifies the notion of masculinity which implies on the hard-work of man. In the novel Things Fall Apart, yam indicates the work of men and hard- work. Unoka does not work hard and he

Okonkwo is a hard-working person. He believes on the work of a man rather than words of man. He works in the planting season on his farms from “cock-crow” until the “chicken went to roost”. Okonkwo does not fear from the priestess as well. In chapter eleven, the priestess Agbala also warns him and said-“Beware of exchanging words with agbala. Does a man speak when a god speaks? ”⁴. 

The description of the wealthy man in Umuofia emphasizes the notion of masculinity as the possession of wives and children. Nwakibie has nine wives and thirty children. In the novel Things Fall Apart, Achebe deliberately lightens the idea that possession of more wives is equal to having more masculine traits.

The idea of “having titles” is also indicator of masculinity. In chapter four of the novel, Okonkwo says to Osugon that the meeting is for men. Osugo is a man who has no any titles. In the eyes of Okonkwo, a person who has no any title is equal to a woman. He relates titles to the masculinity.

In the novel Things Fall Apart, the religion Christianity presents the opposite of masculinity. The elder son of Okonkwo, Nwoye starts following new religion and Okonkwo sees Nwoye as a “woman”. Okonkwo says to his youngest son who is four years old – “If any of you prefers to be a woman, let him follow Nwoye now while I am alive…..”⁵ 

 In Masculine, Feminine or Human?: An Overview of the Sociology of the Gender Roles, Janet Saltzman Chafetz indicates some categories of stereotypical differences between the genders. First is athleticism. Okonkwo is a wrestler. According to Chafetz, his wrestling portrays his figure as athlete which is the masculine trait. Second is bravery. Okonkwo is a brave person in his clan. He does not fear to war and bloodshed. According to Chafetz, bravery is another masculine trait. Chafetz says that being a breadwinner and providing for one’s family is another masculine quality. Okonkwo is a breadwinner and he provides food to his family. This notion also portrays Okonkwo as a masculine figure. Chafetz writes about masculinity as “contributor to the society”. Okonkwo also plays the “role of contributor to the society”. Okonkwo is a great warrior and one of the lords of his clan. 

According to Chafetz,”leadership” and “domination” are other masculine stereotypes. Okonkwo plays the role of leadership. When Okonkwo brings Ikemefuna and a virgin, he shows his leadership and domination. In the end of the novel, he shows his leadership when he kills messenger and hangs himself because he knows that Umofia will not go to war.  

In Things Fall Apart, for example, Chinua Achebe uses the opposition of masculinity and femininity to encapsulate the conflict between the British and Igbo, between the mission and traditional religion.⁶ 

  In the above lines, Frank Salamone emphasizes the use of masculinity in Things Fall Apart. The notion of masculinity has elements of culture. The novel Things Fall Apart also presents the critic of British colonization. In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a true masculine figure.

This statement raises new questions or new opinions. Is masculinity a thinking or a fact? How masculinity does play a significant role in a society?  The notion of masculinity is not biological difference between a man and a woman but it is a difference between conceptual thoughts of a particular society.    

notes 

       1.        Things Fall Apart, part one, chapter 1 page no- 3, Norton Edition 

2.        Things Fall Apart, part one, chapter 1, page no-4, Norton Edition

3.        Things Fall Apart, part one, chapter 2, page no-8, Norton Edition

4.        Things Fall Apart, part one, chapter 11, page no- 56, Norton Edition

5.        Things Fall Apart, part three, chapter 20, page no- 98, Norton Edition

6.       The Depiction of Masculinity in Classic Nigerian Literature, Things Fall Apart modern critical interpretations Harold bloom page no 141

                                                                       Work cited

1.      Things Fall Apart, novel, Chinua Achebe, Norton Edition

2.      Chafetz, Janet Saltzman. Masculine, Feminine or Human?: An Overview of the

                Sociology of the Gender Roles. Itasca: F.E. Peacock Publishers, 1978.

3.      Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

                      New Edition

4.       ACHEBE'S SENSE OF AN ENDING: HISTORY AND TRAGEDY IN "THINGS FALL APART"

                     Author(s): RICHARD BEGAM stable URL :  http://www.jstor.org/stable/29533223