Gender Complications In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Imagine a society in which it is acceptable for men to treat women as their inferior. The way that women were treated as inferiors in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe helps the reader to understand Ibo society and men’s accepted superiority within the society. In Things Fall Apart, women’s role in Ibo society is crucial to the society, understanding it and grasping the men’s behavior as the superior sex. The preconceived idea that women are weak, the women’s responsibilities and the women being treated as objects will help the reader to make sense of the gender complications within this novel. In order to understand the male supremacy in this book, the reader must first understand that women in the Ibo society were predetermined as the inferior sex. Men being more …show more content…
Women’s essential role within Things Fall Apart can really assist the reader while trying to make sense of gender complications. Women being weaker than men by default, women’s inferior responsibilities and women being blatantly objectified are details that show how vital women’s role is. Women’s responsibilities are not equivalent to men, and are not disputable. Their responsibilities include caring for children, cooking and cleaning. Women were considered lesser than men, and this is shown by the shame associated with being female, women not being allowed to add input and that women/girls are foolish. Finally, women being used as objects is shown by their submissiveness, the importance of their fertility and abuse aimed solely at them. The Ibo society treats women as being inferior to men. Perhaps the reasoning behind this must be explored, before assuming that men are plainly cruel. The people of the Ibo society conform to the culture, and shouldn’t be blamed for the system they live by. Women are weaker by default, and that is customary for Ibo people, whether or not it is morally correct in our