In Chinua Achebe 's novel Things Fall Apart, the Ibo society has a strict system of behavioral customs that are given by gender. These customs and beliefs restrict the freedom of Ibo woman and help to reinforce generation after generation the thought that Ibo men are superior to women. Considering the feminist and the masculine lenses that represent the people in the village, it becomes helpful to interpret how men are viewed in a different perspective compared to women. In the novel, many women are abused and mistreated. This can be seen when Okonkwo told his oldest wife that Ikemefuna would be staying with them, “He belongs to the clan,” he told her [Okonkwo’s eldest wife]. “So look after him.”…“Is he staying long
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Since men were the once who were in charge of gathering food for the table, they had to be out all the time while the women stayed home. In page 63, “Inwardly Okonkwo knew that the boys were still too young to understand fully the difficult art of preparing seed-yams. But he thought that one could not begin too early. Yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on yams from one gravest to another was a very great man indeed. Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him.” This shows how Okonkwo associates yams with manliness. The more yams a man is able to grow, the more respected he is in his village. This shows that men are judged in part by their ability to provide for their families. Since yams are a hard crop to grow, being a good provider is directly tied to being a hard worker. Okonkwo, having suffered embarrassment and poverty from his rather effeminate father (by his standards), will stop at nothing to keep his sons from the same fate – even if it means treating harshly as little boys. Okonkwo also interprets masculinity by looking at the man’s behavior towards women. He thinks that men should treat women harshly without disrespect. In the excerpt it state, “Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son’s development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna. He
Since men were the once who were in charge of gathering food for the table, they had to be out all the time while the women stayed home. In page 63, “Inwardly Okonkwo knew that the boys were still too young to understand fully the difficult art of preparing seed-yams. But he thought that one could not begin too early. Yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on yams from one gravest to another was a very great man indeed. Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him.” This shows how Okonkwo associates yams with manliness. The more yams a man is able to grow, the more respected he is in his village. This shows that men are judged in part by their ability to provide for their families. Since yams are a hard crop to grow, being a good provider is directly tied to being a hard worker. Okonkwo, having suffered embarrassment and poverty from his rather effeminate father (by his standards), will stop at nothing to keep his sons from the same fate – even if it means treating harshly as little boys. Okonkwo also interprets masculinity by looking at the man’s behavior towards women. He thinks that men should treat women harshly without disrespect. In the excerpt it state, “Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son’s development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna. He