Oppression Of Women In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe produces different labels of women and their position in society in Nigeria in his thought-provoking novel Things Fall Apart. Achebe presents two types of women; one being the property of their husband and the other being mighty, a spiritual being controlling a balance between clashing persons and forces. Okonkwo is the main character in Things Fall Apart, and he has different views of the women in his life. When Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, was still alive, he was a cheater and shameful. He was unreliable and an embarrassment to the Igbo society and to Okonkwo. Growing up, Okonkwo was faced with having a failure as a father; Unoka was called “Agbala” by the other kids, which meant man with no title (World Eras 3). He eventually compared his father to the women in his clan, for he perceived them both as weak, frail, and powerless. Okonkwo had many children due to his many wives, but the reader is only introduced to one son, Nwoye. Nwoye eventually became a disappointment to Okonkwo throughout his childhood; he was not as …show more content…
In Things Fall Apart, Achebe exposes the problem of the rights of woman (Njeng 4). He writes the women to be property of men and he “pits an aggressive masculine world against its feminine counterpart” (Njeng 4). However, this specific criticism has often been ignored and looked over by critics. According to the Igbo rules in society, the men are allowed to beat the women, giving the men obvious dominance; an example is when Okonkwo beat his wife for her not having his dinner ready on time. Achebe writes, “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. All his wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper (Achebe 13).” Thus explaining the reasoning behind the argument Achebe makes- that women are useless, and only good to cook. Chinua Achebe writes Things Fall Apart with very little consideration to the women of the Igbo