In the novel “Things Fall Apart”, our main setting is the town of Umuofia. In this community and time period, masculinity is a major part of their society. Being masculine almost immediately earns respect throughout the village. This trait is taken so seriously that it is an insult to be called an agbala, or in other words, a woman. The protagonist, Okwonko, is revered all throughout Umuofia. They respected his sense of masculinity and his great work ethic. Unfortunately the apple did indeed fall far from the tree when it came to Okwonko and Unoka. Unoka, in contrast to his son, was a man who had never really done anything in his life. Because of this Okwonko vowed that he shall never be like his father. As a child, one of Okwonko’s playmates
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As you can already tell, Okwonko isn’t as perfect as he seems. More often than not, instead of clearly thinking about the consequence, he acts upon anything of his distaste. “He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists.”(Things Fall Apart, pg.4) Though highly respected and loved by the tribe, Okwonko repeatedly disregards cultural and religious practices. During Umuofia’s celebration, “Week of Peace”, Okwonko beat his third wife Ojiugo. Unhappy at Okwonko’s complete disregard of tribe tradition, he was punished by Ezeahi, the priest of the earth goddess. Okwonko, oddly enough, took his punishment quietly.“Okwonko never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show affection was the sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating is strength.(Things Fall Apart, …show more content…
At the end they decided, as everybody knew they would, that the girl should go to Ogbuefi Udo to replace his murdered wife. As for the boy, he belonged to the clan as a whole, and there was no hurry to decide his fate.” (Things Fall Apart, pg.12) The novel does not state the young boy’s fate but the virgin girl’s was already decided. Wrongly, she must give her hand in marriage to a complete stranger for someone else’s fault. She is modeled to be a replacement of Ogbuefi Udo’s former wife. This gives the idea that all women are simply and easily replaceable because they are all the same. In Umuofia, women are not people, they are just merely object to
As you can already tell, Okwonko isn’t as perfect as he seems. More often than not, instead of clearly thinking about the consequence, he acts upon anything of his distaste. “He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists.”(Things Fall Apart, pg.4) Though highly respected and loved by the tribe, Okwonko repeatedly disregards cultural and religious practices. During Umuofia’s celebration, “Week of Peace”, Okwonko beat his third wife Ojiugo. Unhappy at Okwonko’s complete disregard of tribe tradition, he was punished by Ezeahi, the priest of the earth goddess. Okwonko, oddly enough, took his punishment quietly.“Okwonko never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show affection was the sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating is strength.(Things Fall Apart, …show more content…
At the end they decided, as everybody knew they would, that the girl should go to Ogbuefi Udo to replace his murdered wife. As for the boy, he belonged to the clan as a whole, and there was no hurry to decide his fate.” (Things Fall Apart, pg.12) The novel does not state the young boy’s fate but the virgin girl’s was already decided. Wrongly, she must give her hand in marriage to a complete stranger for someone else’s fault. She is modeled to be a replacement of Ogbuefi Udo’s former wife. This gives the idea that all women are simply and easily replaceable because they are all the same. In Umuofia, women are not people, they are just merely object to