Gender Roles In Things Fall Apart

In Things Fall Apart Gender plays a massive role in the life of the tribe and masculinity is regarded highly as a virtue for them. In Umofia it’s paired with words such as bravery and self-sufficiency and any other words that display the traits of a man. In the eyes of all men it is an insult to be called a woman means not being able to control a wife and child means not really being a man. Gender is very important to Okonkwo he sees it as a way to prove himself of self-worth and worth to others. Okonkwo also sees any characteristic loved by his father as womanly and despises it, he avoids anything that would make him seem even the slightest bit of feminine. Okonkwo has a skewed view on what being a man is and he will go overboard to try and prove he is a man, harming everyone around him no matter who they are. Okonkwo sees masculinity …show more content…
“Whenever the thought of his father’s weakness and failure troubled him he expelled it by thinking about his own strength and success. And so he did now. His mind went to his latest show of manliness.”(Achebe,66). When Okonkwo begins to fear that he may become like his father he starts to reassure himself that he is a man and even would go as far as to consider joining the group that is going to kill Ikemefuna. Early into the novel Okonkwo attempts to disown Osugo by saying he is not a man (much like his father) because Osugo had no titles and nothing to distinguish that he was worthy of the title of man. “he [Okonkwo] was not afraid of war. He was a man of action, a man of war. Unlike his father he could stand the look of blood.”(Achebe,10). Okonkwo despises the very thought of being like his father that he believes he must not fear war although in Umofia, fear is a highly respected quality among men but since it was something his father possessed he must not let fear in for he will be a woman if he