Masculinity In Okonkwo

“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. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head.” (Page 10). Okonkwo’s clanmates celebrated his bravery, strength, and power and as a result, Okonkwo associated these qualities as what it means to be masculine. Although Okonkwo demonstrates many masculine qualities such his strength and work ethic, he fails to exhibit compassion and understanding towards others; in fear of appearing weak like his father. Despite his high status among the tribe, Okonkwo failed to develop and maintain healthy relationships because of his
false perception of masculinity. By analyzing Okonkwo’s interactions, throughout Things Fall Apart (by Chinua Achebe), we can understand his traumatic childhood led to his fear of appearing weak. He rejected all emotion but anger and failed to fathom the true meaning of masculinity: exhibiting strength, hard work, and most importantly, compassion and understanding towards others. We can analyze where these components can be found or added in the relationships between Okonkwo and Unoka, Ikemefuna, and Nwoye.

The relationship between Okonkwo and Unoka showed how Okonkwo developed deep hatred towards his father. Unoka had low status among the tribe, and the other men of Umuofia recognized him as lazy, and weak. To begin with, Okonkwo’s father rarely had the dedication to put effort into a task for income. “In [Unoka’s] day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow. If any money came his way, and it seldom did, he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine, called round his neighbors and made merry” (Page 4). Unoka’s work-ethic opposes Okonkwo’s definition of masculinity, and explains one of the many reasons why Okonkwo is ashamed of his father. Furthermore, Unoka acquired massive debts due to his negligence to work. “Unoka was, of course, a debtor, and he owed every neighbour some money, from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts.” (Page 4) This evidence presents why Okonkwo was ashamed of his father. Unoka never paid off his overwhelming debts due to his inadequate work-ethic. For Okonkwo and the rest of his tribe, this quality was a sign of weakness which Okonkwo feared. Okonkwo’s goal was to not be perceived as a failure like his father which drove him towards financial success. On page 8, it explains that, “[Okonkwo] was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife.” Okonkwo experienced financial success because of his hard work in the yam farms, widely considered to be the most valuable of crops. Additionally, he increased his social status by marrying multiple wives. These aspects no matter how [great] they are, Okonkwo still lacked his sense of compassion.

Not only was there a dysfunctional relationship between Okonkwo and Unoka, but there was also a disconnection between Okonkwo and Nwoye.
Okonkwo placed high expectations of Nwoye and he didn’t live up to many of them. Okonkwo characterized his son as inept because Nwoye displayed compassion; a clear direction to failure in Okonkwo’s mind. An example of Nwoye’s behaviour is shown on page 53, “So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi, and he told them stories of the land -- masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell…” This quote demonstrates that unlike Okonkwo, Nwoye does not fit the Igbo ideal of masculinity. On page 13-14, Okonkwo describes his disappointment in Nwoye as he exhibits similar negative qualities as Unoka, especially laziness. “Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth.” (Page 13-14). Not only is Nwoye burdened by his father’s expectations, but he also struggles to match Okonkwo’s success. Nwoye grows distant from his father, developing hatred towards him, and desired to carve out his own path, without meeting the expectations of his father. After years of being scrutinized by his
community, Nwoye found refuge in Christianity, infuriating Okonkwo. Despite Okonkwo’s disapproval, Nwoye converts to Christianity and leaves behind his family and the Igbo culture to learn from the missionaries. “Nwoye [was] among the missionaries in Umuofia. ‘What are you doing here?’ Obierika had asked... ‘I am one of them,’ replied Nwoye. ‘How is your father?’ Obierika asked... ’I don't know. He is not my father,’ said Nwoye, unhappily. And so Obierika... found that Okonkwo did not wish to speak about Nwoye.” (insert quote citation). Nwoye failed to meet Okonkwo’s expectations and endured years of abuse leading to him feeling depressed and lost in life. Christianity provided a beacon of to Nwoye. He saw a faith in which he would not get beaten for his “non-masculine” views, and he could honestly express himself and learn.

Unlike his terrible relationship with Nwoye, Okonkwo found pride in Ikemefuna.
In addition to Okonkwo hating his father and as well as Nwoye, the relationship between Okonkwo and Ikemefuna was a lot different. Ikemefuna was the first son in which Okonkwo saw potential. He thought he saw himself in Ikemefuna and loved everything about his masculinity. Initially, Okonkwo started seeing growth in Nwoye due to Ikemefuna, “Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son's development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna.” (Page 52). This shows how Ikemefuna made a “positive” impact on Nwoye and Okonkwo was happy to see that things will become routine . But Okonkwo was wrong because a few years later it was time for the killing of Ikemefuna. On page 57 it states, “When [Okonkwo and Ezeudu] were out of earshot, he said to Okonkwo: "That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death.” Also on page 61, it says, “As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. The pot fell and broke in the sand. He heard Ikemefuna cry, "My father, they have killed me!" as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down.” This shows something huge in Okonkwo’s personality. He sacrificed his love for the son which he loved, in order to preserve his ideal of masculinity.he wishes he could keep, for a small anecdote in which he could say he was strong. This shows us the exact opposite. Okonkwo’s perception of
masculinity was so distorted that hehas gone so far as to be the one to perform the killeding of his adoptive son because he felt it would be weak to let him live.; he was too weak to handle the pressure of not being strong enough to witness his loved one dying. Furthermore, Ikemefuna’s death takes a major toll on Okonkwo, is hauntinged by this event him, and bringing out his weaknesses and insecurities his weakness starts to show as the story progresses. On page 63 it states, “Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. He drank palm-wine from morning till night, and his eyes were red and fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor… He did not sleep at night. He tried not to think about Ikemefuna, but the more he tried the more he thought about him...he was so weak that his legs could hardly carry him.” This event had a huge impact on Okonkwo, and this is the first time his true masculinity shows. His grief. He showed compassion and sadness for the son he lost -- even though he had viciously killed him -- and this was the first and last sign of his real character, [maybe add more/edit more].