Treatment of Women in Things Fall Apart Essay

A Change for the Better

Things fall apart is a tragic novel written by Chinua Achebe. In the Igbo culture, men are dominant and rule over their families, wives especially. Women are forced into a more or less servile position, often living in fear of their husbands abuse. Though Okonkwos quick temper with his family is never portrayed as admirable, he unquestionably is portrayed in the book as having the right to be aggressive at home due to his high ranking title. Achebe, however, also writes about the idea of Mother is supreme in Igbo culture.

[Uchendu says] Can you tell me, Okonkwo, why it is that one of the commonest names we give our children is Nneka, or Mother is supreme? We all know that a man is the head of the family and his wives do his bidding. A child belongs to its father and his family and not to its mother and her family. A man belongs to his fatherland and not to his motherland (Achebe 133).

The idea of mother is supreme is debated upon by Okonkwo and Uchendu, a relative of his. This debate brings to light the role of women in Igbo society which is something that Okonkwo shifts his owns feelings about during the story.

It is important to point out that women and men are treated differently throughout the book. For example, the name Agbala for woman is defined as a man who has not taken any prestigious titles. This indicates that in the Igbo society men take the more prestigious titles and women do not. There are deeper reasons that separate the treatment of men and women, however, and they primarily have to do with physical aggression and masculinity. One example of Okonkwos most masculine act is when he brutally stabs his son to death so as not to appear weak and show that children belong to their fathers and not to their to mothers. Finally, nearly every aspect of Igbo society is gendered, even crops. Okonkwos mother and sisters worked hard enough, but they grew womens crops, like coco-beans and cassava. Yam, the king of crops, was a mans crop (Achebe 22). Yam, because it is the staple of the Igbo diet, is considered a mans crop. This allows men to maintain the position as the primary providers for their families, and the respect to which that role confers.

During the first part of the book, Okonkwo believes in all of the Igbo customs about women in society including their treatment as property and not people. For example, Okonkwo orders his wives to cook his meals and have his daughters serve him. If Okonkwo finds that his wives arent doing respectable jobs he beats and punishes them. "No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man" (Achebe 46).

Okonkwos belief about the role of women begins to change after he goes into exile for seven years after killing a local white official. During his exile he tries to become familiar with his feminine side to acknowledge his maternal ancestors but remembers that his fellow kinsmen (from the motherland) are not as fierce as the Umuofians. Still, he eventually leans his mode of feminine behavior through his uncle Uchendu. When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed (Achebe 68).

At the beginning of the book, Okonkwo did not believe that women had any real meaning and are treated them almost as savages. He believed they were second to men in everything and needed to obey whatever their husbands would say. Men were the supreme people of the villages, carried prestigious titles, and planted the yams. However after Okonkwos exile, things change. At first, Okonkwo didnt want to admit that mother is supreme because that would be honoring his dad who he thought was as weak, lazy and poor as any woman. But while in exile he began to feel sorrow about his life and realized that he would have to let go of the feelings he harbored for his father and come to realize that women allowed him to be a more complete person. And also a kinder one.