TFA+Essay

Jonathan Layne Honors English November 1, 2009

Things Fall Apart: Okonkwo’s Manliness

//Things Fall Apart// by Chinua Achebe is set in the late 19th century, near and during the coming of the “white man” to Nigeria. The novel has much to show about the disharmony between the white colonies and the traditional culture of the Igbo people. Nonetheless, the book is more about a man’s rise to great prestige, which in the end led to his inevitable downfall. This character’s name is Okonkwo. His fate was not because of colonization, but because of his obsession with masculinity. This is essentially due to the fact that his father was looked upon as a failure; he was a musician with no titles and only one wife in a society that exalted manliness, wrestling, and polygamy. The effeminate reputation of his father drove Okonkwo to embrace the values of manliness. Consequently, Achebe shows that Okonkwo’s desire to be strong led him to be haunted by fear and finally commit suicide.

Moreover, one of Okonkwo's weaknesses was portrayed through the hidebound way he defined masculinity. He was a part of a patriarchal community where the males were already established with great authority. However, to Okonkwo, any kind of softness and affection was seen as a sign of weakness and femininity. There are men in the book with a more mature understanding of masculinity but Okonkwo was too ignorant to think carefully of his actions. His misconceived view of masculinity was the primary drive of his actions. Consumed by this force, he was unwilling to accept the change in tradition as the Igbo and White culture clashed. He wouldn’t accept that in a colonized society, he’d be an average person instead of revered man.

Being considered the strongest and most respected man of his village, he feared of becoming exactly like his father, Unoka; accordingly, he tried to epitomize his own deranged interpretation of masculinity. “People laughed at him because he was a loader, and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back (p. 5).” Unoka died before he could pay back the money he owed to many people, leaving Okonkwo with no inheritance. Despite this, Okonkwo was still able to earn the reputation as a wealthy and strong man in society. He was well known as a great wrestler who beat “The Cat”, another reputable wrestler in Umuofia.

Furthermore, the pride he had obtained from this led him to arrogance. Exemplary of this is when he had a clan meeting. “The man who contradicted him had no titles. That was why he called him a woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit (p. 26).”

Towards the end of the novel Okonkwo and his fellow clans men hold the meeting to wage war against the colonel rule in Umuofia. During the meeting they are asked to disperse by the commissioner ’ s messengers. At the site of the messengers Okonkwo goes into a fit of rage and kills one of them with his machete and leaves. He was later found hung on tree

Okonkwo ’ s death was definitely something he brought upon himself. His death is mainly attributed to his various character flaws such as pride, masculinity and fear of weakness. He was in so much fear that he might be portrayed as a weak person in front of his clans men that he felt the need to kill the messenger. Then due to his pride he killed himself to be remembered as a brave man who took his own life instead of letting the colonialists take it instead. But, no one can truly say what Okonkwo ’ s reasons were for killing himself for no one is Okonkwo.