Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

What does it really mean to be a ‘man’. To show how ‘manly’ you are. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe had written a story that is basically told in its title. From a village called Umuofia, Okonkwo’s life begins to fall apart due to various actions he has committed to soon be exiled from his village. During his exile missionaries have come into Umuofia and converted people into Christianity. Okonkwo’s madness lead him to kill a messenger of the missionaries and shorty after Okonkwo committed suicide. There are representations in the novel that shows how an why men are portrayed as superior and tough but not all men, some are represented as outcasts and weak. Superiority and toughness are shown through the village men’s titles, …show more content…
Okonkwo has earned many of his titles and gave much superiority while also earning respect from the village people. For instance, “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand” (13). There it is shown that Okonkwo is the boss in the household and he is the one to be listened to and doing all his demands. “Fortunately, among these… but achievement was revered” (8). Okonkwo was a great man over the great things he has done for earning his titles. Another example, “His name was Nwakibie...in the clan” (18). This man was a person that Okonkwo looked up to and his …show more content…
His father was a failure and a coward. “But his whole… and of weakness” (13). Knowing that he feared becoming his father, that fear guided him to only showing strength. His thought of showing emotions would be thought as weak. For instance, “He was afraid of being thought weak” (61). Okonkwo thought Ikemefuna was a great kid but he had to go. Although the clan had thought it would be best for Okonkwo to stay out of their business of killing Ikemefuna, Okonkwo thought it was more important to show his masculinity than to give the thought to other villagers that he has emotion. It was prevented by Okonkwo killing Ikemefuna