Things Fall Apart Masculinity

Masculinity in Things Fall Apart In Things Fall Apart, the theme of masculinity is shown through Okonkwo and the relationship he has shared with his father as well as the contrast of how the clan views masculinity. His view of being masculine is shaped by his relationship with his father and carries on to how he leads the village. The relationship between Okonkwo and his father Unoka shaped his view on how he should act; not wanting to be anything like his father. He wants to usurp his father’s legacy that Okonkwo views as weak and even as a child, Okonkwo “resented his father's failure and weakness, and even now [present day] he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala” (Achebe 5). The
His sons will own homes of their own and be the sole provider for their families while his daughters will become good wives who will tend to household chores and bear many children. Okomkwo “ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” (Achebe 12). Okonkwo will not accept the changing values, wanting his family to follow in his steps and the steps of his ancestors before him. People in the village do not agree with Okonkwo’s wishes to uphold traditions. They view his resistance to accepting these new ideas as a weakness, not masculine in the eyes of Okonkwo himself. Masculinity in Things Fall Apart can be put into two categories: old masculinity and new masculinity. Okonkwo embodies the old masculinity since he only wants to uphold the traditional values that men and women show hold to; men are warriors and women are child bearers. The majority of the clan is the category of new masculinity, Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye included. This side of masculinity embraces the newer values that the missionaries bring and know that the older ways they all knew of something of the past. Okonkwo and his masculinity were creating due to his view on his father’s lack of