Okonkwo Masculinity Quotes

Okonkwo, the ball of fire that obliterates everything in it’s wake. Okonkwo, the inferno that turns everything it cares about into dust and ash. This blaze does not just engulf Okonkwo, but it becomes Okonkwo. And this fire stems from Okonkwo’s desire to become masculine, unlike his father who he viewed as feminine. Okonkwo is the driving force that leads to his destruction. He commits transgressions and hurts people throughout the novel in order to make himself appear masculine. These acts lead to the metaphorical “breaking” of his world and the “anarchy” that this breaking causes to his world, and this anarchy is caused by his desire for masculinity. “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world”(“The Second Coming”). All of Okonkwo’s actions were aimed at appearing masculine and he always went to great lengths to prove how manly he was. Like a fire, he was too impulsive to stop and think about who he would be hurting in the process. This claim can be proved by a major event in chapter 7. As Ikemefuna was being killed, he cried to his father for help. However, “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak”(7.28). …show more content…
He even went as far as sinning against the Earth goddess. He did so by beating his wife during the Week of Peace. During this sacred seven day period, no one was allowed to beat anyone else. However, “In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace”(4.17). His first two wives began to scream and inform him that it was the sacred week, “But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess”(4.17). This sin against the earth goddess Agbala angered everyone in Umuofia. People believed that he was a man “who had no respect for our gods and