Preview

The Role of Women in Society - Things Fall Apart Compared to Mother Was a Great Man

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
704 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Role of Women in Society - Things Fall Apart Compared to Mother Was a Great Man
The Role of Women in Society

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, demonstrates the original and traditional cultures of African, predominantly the Igbo culture. In traditional Igbo culture, men are perceived as the dominant and most powerful sex, while women are perceived as weak lesser people. Although women seem to play an inferior role in society, there are many traditions that exemplify the value and importance of women to males in society.
Although women are mistreated, the Igbo society assigns important roles to the women. Women are the ones who paint the egwugwu house, the house to the most powerful and most secret cult in the clan. “Many colored patterns and drawings done by specially chosen women at regular intervals” (88). Because men are the dominant sex, it would seem that they would have the honor of decorating this sacred house. The fact that women have the privilege of decorating the house of the most important cult in the clan, demonstrates the hidden respect for women in this culture.
Part of the Igbo culture is to show respect to the first wife of the household. This is illustrated by the palm wine ceremony at Nwakibie's obi. Anasi, Nwakibie's first wife, had not yet arrived to the ceremony and so his other wives were not allowed to drink the wine until she had arrived. “Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her, and so they stood waiting” (20). The respect for the first wife of the household is evident. Although respect for the other wives is not clearly shown, in a way they are receiving respect just because one person of their gender is. Nwakibie could have easily let his other wives drink before his first wife, but he did not because of the respect he has for Anasi. Nwakibie noticed that Anasi was not present and then took the time to wait for her to come so that she would be given the proper respect.
The important of women also appears when Okonkwo is exiled to his motherland. Okonkwo’s uncle, Uchendu,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the Igbo society there is a huge diversity in gender. Okonkwo a man who thinks of gender as a very important title ,believes that each gender has their own job and that men should do what men do and women do what women are supposed to do, he does not think men should do what women do, or vice versa. As Chinua Achebe stated in chapter 3 paragraph 28 “His mother and sisters worked hard enough, but they grew women’s crops, like coco yams, beans and cassava. Yam the king of crops, was a man’s crop”. This shows that in this diverse society in a simple thing as farming there is a certain crop men grow that women can’t grow. As you read the book you can see that Okonkwo thinks of his wives as just people he is much greater than. You can see in chapter 4 he beats one of his wives, for not making him lunch on time, this is a week of peace and does this to his people. Okonkwo wants his…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Q. Much of the traditional Igbo life is presented around what kind of traditional roles? Race Religion Gender Spirituality Career Hang 10!…

    • 3934 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the roles that men and women portray is very gender based. Women do what the women do, and the men do what the men do. No one helps the other get things accomplished. The roles that women portray are: taking care of the children, cooking for the family, and staying around the house to clean. On the other side of it, the men have to provide food and shelter, rule their clan, take several wives, and gain many different titles among the men in the clan. The men also hold all of the power in the tribe.…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In chapter four of the novel; Okonkwo, who one of the most powerful men in his village, beats his wife mercilessly because she was not in her place attending to his every need. This is a pivotal point in the novel because it showcases the concept of how highly Okonkwo regards himself in this time period as opposed to how Okonkwo regards his wives. Once again, even in this work of literature from 1959 we are able to see the submissive woman gender role along with the powerful overbearing male gender role. In the novel on page 30, Achebe describes the event “Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess. His neighbors heard his wife crying and sent voices over the compound walls to ask what the matter…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Igbo Family Structure

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages

    They ranked according to the order in which they were married. As wives, they were responsible for fueling and inspiring the father with ideas to move the household forward towards progress and development. It is expected of her to preserve the family wealth. The standards and morals of the children also rested upon her shoulders to make sure they do right. She has to make household homely and comfortable for every member of the family including visitors. It is also her duty to love the father of the house, cook his meals, and maintain the cleanliness of the home. The younger wives are expected to help older wives and caring for children and the head of the house “father”. As you read through the story you would not think that the women were a very important role in the Igbo culture, but in the book, it states that Agbala which means “old woman”, which was the Oracle, people came from near and far to consult it (Achebe 11). The women were allowed to participate in some events, they could plant their own crops, and go to the market when they…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Igbo Gender Roles

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages

    With colonizing forces pushing through, the Igbo population is at a watershed moment in their history and culture. The fast occurring changes are affecting religion, family structure, trade and especially gender roles. As society began changing women who once were confined to their homes and had…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Research Paper

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a novel about the colonization of an African culture. Also, the novel is about a tribesman named Okonkwo who lives in an African village called Umuofia which undergoes the drastic changes of colonization. In Things Fall Apart there is an overwhelming amount of masculinity in the culture of Umuofia and clan life in general. However, there is also a balance between masculinity and femininity in certain aspects of their culture and life. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe the careful balance of masculine roles and feminine roles in society are shown by the point of view in the novel.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo has good intentions, but what is seen as good hurts him and everyone around him. Being feminine is seen as weak and is shunned upon. Beatings are often used to discipline children and wives, causing them to fear the ones who are supposed to protect them. Igbo culture is surrounded by fear and swift punishments that doesn’t let anyone think for themselves. Igbo culture…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Igbo Gender Roles

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In this novel, a lot of the traditional Igbo life is the way it is because of the organized gender roles. Basically, all of Igbo lifestyle is dependent on genders, like the characterization of crimes, and the different crops that women and men grow. Men, in this culture, are the stronger sex. Women are seen as weak beings, but are respected for certain things they do, such as bearing children. (Shmoop)…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Igbo Culture

    • 1038 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “ They {women} scrubbed and painted the walls under the supervision of men.” pg 89. Most of the gender roles focus on women to please the men. Sometimes the men beat their women with an exception on the Week of Peace. Okonkwo gets angry most of the time with his son and wives but always has a soft side for people that have power or are more like him. Sometimes he calls weak men “agabala” or woman when he wants to insult them. Some Igbo men mistreat their women because they are considered inferior. Sometimes women are considered more like pieces of property. The more wives you had the more powerful and rich you are. More women means and extra hand on the crops . This could mean the husband could be even more richer if he has a healthy crops. “Okeye}...was not a failure like Unoka. he had a large barn and had 3 wives . And now was going to take the Idemili title the third highest in the land.” pg 6 There are 3 things that define a man in Umuofia , how many houses , tiles and wives you have. Men do not always focus on belittling women because they do care for them and also have very important roles of their own. Women provide the extra hand in working with crops and also taking care of the…

    • 1038 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women In The Igbo Society

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the Igbo society the way men treat the women make them uncivilized. The men treat the women terribly, they beat them and treat them like servants, and it is seen as normal. On many occasions Okonkwo beat his wife and no one cared or stood up for her. The text says “without further argument, Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping” (Achebe, 1959, p.38). Okonkwo beating his wife is abuse and no one cares because…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Igbo Beliefs

    • 2018 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Igbo women’s war of 1929 was a period where groups of women gathered all over the eastern Nigeria to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the rapid change of their society. These included taxation, women’s power in market place and politics, increasing workload, market prices, roads, etc. During this time, the spread of Christianity was gradually increasing especially among the poor ¬¬ (Matera et al. 38). Igbo Christians lived in a different atmosphere because they understand the traditions of Igbo culture, but also willing to accept new teachings and willing to incorporate the teachings into their lives (Matera et al. 40). when looking at the war in a gendered perspective, we can see that Igbo Christians strives for a new sense of balance…

    • 2018 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When the British enforced a new political system, they paid little attention to the traditional power distribution which altered the positions and roles of the Nigerian women. The Women’s War is one of the most significant events in African-European relations in the colonial time period because of its anti-colonial and feminist discourse. This was the first incident of its kind in any other Colonial Nigerian colony as it was such a serious challenge to British rule and authority. In this essay I argue that the Igbo Women’ War represents an anti-colonial political resistance and the rejection of a new government. Colonialism removed Igbo women from their involvement and influence in their traditional social, economic and especially, political roles but in exchange did not include them in the new political systems and deemed them…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this case Eugene the male dominant in the household is in charge of how his families lives are lived. This isn’t seen just in Nigeria but can be seen in other places like the middle east. The man is the head of the house and whatever he says goes. Women are not to have much of an opinion and must obey the male leader in their household. The same is seen in The Purple Hibiscus. Women are instilled from early in their lives that their sole purpose is to obey their father or husband, or whoever that male dominant figure in their life is. If they disobey they are taught that it is right and just to be treated and punished so severely. It’s really a sad thing to see because abuse can really breakdown a person and push them so far off the edge. Unfortunately this is how they…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Igbo Culture

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Culture can be defined as the way a group of people choose to live their life, the way they dress, the way they talk, and an assortment of other things. They are numerous cultures in the world today and the Igbo culture happens to be one of the very intriguing ones out there. “The Igbo have a vibrant culture which many are proud of today” (1). There are approximately 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria.…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays