Roles Of Women In Things Fall Apart

Some may view the female gender as weak and may also think that women do not do enough for their husbands and children. This makes the roles of women look unnecessary. This is proven otherwise by how each female character in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe contains. These roles of the women are very important in order to carry out the traditions of the Ibo culture. These roles came out in activities such as preparing meals, cleaning the house to even telling their children stories to ensure the children learn lessons from old folk stories. In Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe depicts the roles of women in the African culture in the late 1800s by the illustration of the mothers, daughters and wives. Chinua Achebe uses the role
As shown in the African culture, the first wife has a special role. She is entitled to drink the palm wine first and she gets to wear her husband's’ titles around her ankle. “Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her, and so they stood waiting” (20). The other wives had to wait before they could do a simple task like drinking palm wine. Nwoye's mother had a privilege for being Okonkwo's first wife. This can make the first wife feel very special. “She wore the anklet of her husband’s titles, which the first wife alone could wear” (20). Nwoye's mother had the special privilege of wearing Okonkwo's titles around her ankle. These titles were very close to Okonkwo's heart and letting his wife wear the titles means that he must have a lot of love and respect for his first wife. The first wife can be seen as the favorite. In addition, the wives are in charge of taking care of the inside of the hut. “Okonkwo’s wives had scrubbed the walls and the hut with red earth until they reflected light” (37). Okonkwo’s wives work in the house while Okonkwo does the work outside of the hut. Achebe does this because not only in the African culture, but in most cultures, women do the cleaning inside while the wives clean the inside of the house or hut. In Achebe's piece, he has the wives clean the inside to show that the women have a purpose. Like most families Okonkwo's family
The roles of the mother being is storytelling to their children, the daughters help the mothers and the wives get the privilege of wearing their husband's titles and cleaning the huts. Overall, the female roles play a big part in making the Nigerian culture into the culture it was in the late 1800s. Like any women in today's society, they worked hard and deserve respect from