Femininity In Things Fall Apart

The novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe tells the story of a man named Okonkwo who lives in a small village in Nigeria. The author presents the story of Okonkwo in order to show the struggles between a community rooted in tradition and how it adapts to change. Okonkwo struggles with both his changing community, and proving his masculinity. Throughout the novel, the author also provides a look at the strong discourse between women and men in the Umuofia society.
Okonkwo was a great and authoritative man in his village. In trying to stray from living a life like his fathers, he felt he had to prove himself to be a strong, dominant man. He did this by becoming a great wrestler and winning matches which he took pride in. Though he is powerful, he has many faults that eventually overcome him. Okonkwo struggles to adapt to a
While in the seven-year exile, Okonkwo feels like the kinsman from his motherland are weak because they are not warlike as the men from his clan are. He despises that he must live in a womanly place. All his life he has tortured and beaten his wives and never showed much remorse for women. He even wishes that his daughter Ezinma were a man because of her masculine spirit. Women also have no say in whom they will marry, because their fathers search for the best suitor and arrange the marriage for them.
Uchendu, Okonkwo’s uncle points out to Okonkwo that the most common name given to children is Nneka, which means “mother is supreme” he asks him what this means. Okonkwo does not know how to respond. Uchendu tells him that a man stays in their fatherland when life is going well but returns to his motherland when needing to seek refuge and comfort. This bothers Okonkwo because it shows that females have power and are important in the community, which he does not agree with. He does not want to admit that women might hold greater power than men in certain aspects of