Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart explores the struggle between old traditions within the Igbo community as well as Christianity and "the second coming" it brings forth. While on the surface, it appears the novel narrows its' focus to a single character, Okonkno and his inner battles, one can read deeper into the text and find an array of assorted conflicts in the realm on human vs. human, human vs. nature, human vs. society, and society vs. society. For the purposes of this paper I shall focus on the labyrinth of human vs. human and human vs. society in the framework of the role of women in Igbo society and how men assign and dictate these roles. I will also briefly explain the importance of women in terms of motherhood and wifedom.
Throughout my research I've encountered numerous papers on the rights women do have in Igbo society, on the importance of women in this society.
English: Montage of Igbo people which include: Ola...
Male Figure, Igbo peoples, Amogdu Abiriba, Cross R...
A spiral stack of copies of the 1994 Anchor Books ...They site the role of widows in Igbo society as well as the respect given to the first wife as proof that while this society is not an ideal situation for women, it is hardly the misogynist society that some make it out to be. I passionately disagree. It is obvious to me that to the characters in Things Fall Apart, women are "things" to be exploited, abused and to serve as second-class citizens to the rank of male privilege. The theme of misogyny runs rampant throughout the text whether it is exposed by the absence of women in the text, the abuses women suffer at the hands of men, or the subtle ways in which society dictates and reinforces these negative statuses and images of women.
Throughout the text women are virtually invisible and live their lives on the sidelines; it is clear...
Mysogyny
Although the society may not be entirely mysogynistic, Okonkwo is. And, he repeatedly gets away with beating his wives. Although he is punished for it during the week of peace, and during other times, he is reprimanded, he still remains respected and honored. This is a fault in Ibo society. Ofcourse, people get away with domestic abuse in western culture as well-- but it is not okay here either.
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