Things Fall Apart Essays (1849 words) - Postcolonial Literature

Things Fall Apart The Ibo society in Africa is very different from the American society that I am used to. One of the major differences is the way women are treated. On page 37 of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo conveys that ?no matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and children (and especially his women) he was not really a man.? On page 94 Okonkwo's uncle says ?we all know that a man is the head of the family and his wives do his bidding.? This shows us that women in the Ibo society are considered subservient to the men of the society and are sometimes mistreated, however they are still very important to society. This is evident in many other places throughout the book Things Fall Apart. The way women are referred to in the book tells about their social standing as well. Many times women are referred to by their relationship to a man. There are many references to ?Nyowe's mother? and? Okonkwo's first wife,? but Ekwefi is seldom called by her name. The same goes with ?the wife of Ogbuefi Udo? who was murdered by the members of another African village near Umofia. In the first chapter of the book we see how women are expected to do what their husbands say with no questions asked. When Ikemefuna comes to Umofia and is put under Okonkwo's care he (Okonkwo) immediately calls for his first wife and says ?look after him,? when she asks a question regarding the boy, Okonkwo says ?do what you are told woman? to which his first wife responds by taking Ikemefuna into her hut, asking no more questions. The only two women who are consistently referred to by their name throughout the book are Ezinma and Chielo. That is because Ezinma is very special to her father, Okonkwo, and Chielo is the priestess of the oracle. On pages 122 and 123, Okonkwo thinks to himself that Ezinma is special because ?of all his children she alone understood his every mood.? On many occasions throughout the book, Okonkwo says, ?I wish she were a boy.? Sons are more respected in the Ibo society than daughters. There is a special bond between Ezinma and Okonkwo because, according to him, she has the ?right spirit.? When Ekwefi wakes Okonkwo up in the middle of the night, he is upset because he doesn't want to be bothered, but when he finds out that it is because Ezinma is dying, he springs up from bed and rushes out to get her some medicine. This shows that daughters are not without value in the Ibo society. Ezinma is special not only to her father, but to her mother as well. I think it is because Ekwefi had nine miscarriages before she had Ezinma and since the girl was considered an obanje, Ekwefi was extremely happy when her iyi-uwa was found so she would no longer die and be reborn in a horrible cycle. Although Okonkwo looks down on showing emotions (or weakness as he considers it) he is quick to follow his wife when she follows Chielo and Ezinma to the shrine of the oracle, and he tells her to go home and rest and he will wait for them to come out of the cave. The next morning he makes four trips to and from that same spot worried about Ezinma (although he is too proud to admit it). Chielo is well respected and feared throughout the village of Umofia because she holds a religious position that is very important to all members of the Ibo society. As the priestess of the oracle, the entire village depends upon her to relay messages of the gods and to do their (the gods) bidding. An example of this is when she takes Ezinma in the middle of the night out to the cave where the oracle lives, despite Ezinma's parents protest. Although women are somewhat looked down upon they are also portrayed as brave and important to their society, they are trusted with responsibilities, such as gathering firewood, cooking, cleaning, and child rearing. Women weed the farms three times during the growing season of the yams. They also