Okonkwo's Roles In Things Fall Apart

In the book ‘Things Fall Apart’, women are viewed as the weaker sex and are thought to be lower in hierarchy than the men by the main character Okonkwo. Despite them being battered and belittled they played important roles such as cooking for their families, bearing children, decorating the houses, cultivating the crops and educating the children. Most importantly is that they hold significant roles, for instance there was Chielo and Chika the priestess of Agbala and Ani the earth goddess. They were admired for their powers and greatly feared and respected by the Ibo, they ruled over men and women. This is illustrated when Okonkwo was made to apologize when he beat his wife during the week of peace. His apology was to be directed to Ani the earth goddess. Also, Okonkwo’s daughter Ezinma is depicted as a hard worker and she even offers to do errands or chores that are traditionally meant for boys. Her father, who is proud …show more content…
Seeing his father die without even a single tittle and deep in debt made him hate being associated to any weak or womanish traits. In this day and age, women are awarded great tittles and break bread with men over important matters. The men in Umuofia at the time could see this maybe they could rethink the meaning of the word agbala. Okonkwo’s father didn’t do much to support his family, so Okonkwo’s mother had to pick up the slack on her husband’s behalf. In today’s world women don’t necessarily need a man to provide for them and their family. They do it themselves while some of the men even depend on their wives to provide because they have failed to do so. Today this has become a habit most man are reckless and not stamping like kings in their homes. Just like okonkwo mother had done, women either choosing either to keep the lazy men, others stood strong and decide to be single and