A Feminist Analysis of Chinua Achebe's Novel Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe's novels "have helped to develop what is known as African literature today" (Mezu 1). He has written novels exploring his culture, while still staying true to his roots. The societies in his novels, much like those during his own time, are strictly patriarchal, with women playing very limited and suppressed roles. This is especially true in Achebe's most familiar novel, Things Fall Apart; the main character is affected by almost no female presences, and has little to no respect for women. In her article, Mezu primarily "studies Achebe's portraiture of women" (Mezu 1), the factors that "condition male attitudes towards women" (Mezu 1), and "the consequences of the absence of a moderating female principle in his fictions" (Mezu 1).

The first point that Mezu makes is that almost all African and Nigerian cultures were oppressively masculinist; some writers have insisted that this image of a woman as subordinate was a result of European colonization. Yet the specific African cultures of Achebe's writings, according to critics, have always believed in oppressing women and making them "traditionally subordinated to traditional sexist mores" (Mezu 1). Mezu goes on to logically propose that "in creating a masculine-based society, Achebe was merely putting literature to mimetic use, reflecting traditional sexist mores" (Mezu 1). Achebe's female characters are "voiceless [. . .] virtually inconsequential" (Mezu 2). They are invisible, as can be seen through out the entire novel: "It was clear from the way that the crowd stood or sat that the ceremony was for men. There were many women, but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders" (Achebe 85). Women are truly treated little better than slaves who care for children and pick the yams, which Achebe narrator explains are a symbol for "manliness" (Achebe 34). Even though "women constitute the core of the rural workforce" (Mezu 2) in Things Fall Apart, they can be beaten and treated as cruelly as animals. Examples of such disrespected characters are all three of Okonkwo's wives; in the society of Things Fall Apart, "man is everything and the woman is nothing [. . .] women are quantified as part of men's acquisitions" (Mezu 2). Okonkwo marries three women simply because more wives mean more power; he strives to be like Nwakibie, "who has three huge barns, nine wives and thirty children, and the highest but one title which a man can take in the clan" (Achebe 21). Okonkwo hurls disrespectful comments such as "do what you are told, woman" (Achebe 18) often at his wives; even when Okonkwo beats his wife Ojiugo, he is only scolded because it is during Peace Week - not because the act itself is offensive.

Some of the reasons for this behavior have already been discussed; the society of Things Fall Apart was simply reflecting actual society, and men behaved disrespectfully toward women because they thought it was acceptable. Some of Okonkwo's behavior, however, was also prompted by his desire to remain 'manly' in the eyes of his peers. Okonkwo does not wish to be like his father, who "was an untitled man, connoting femininity" (Mezu 2). He hates his son, because he believes Nwoye to be "effeminate" (Achebe 7) and following in his father's footsteps. So, in a desire to stay as far from a female image as possible, he hides his emotions and focuses not on his family, but on gathering power and titles. He even goes so far as to kill Ikemefuna, whom he loved like a son, and who was influencing his own son Nwoye in a positive way. Okonkwo doesn't let himself feel any emotion after the death, which he was not even required to be a part of, telling himself not to "become like a shivering old woman" (Achebe 72). The only female character that receives positive attention from Okonkwo is his daughter Ezinma, whom Okonkwo only loves because she seems more like a son than Nwoye. Yet he still refuses to show affection, even for his favorite child, in an effort to remain masculine.

The largest consequence of missing a strong female authority in Things Fall Apart is, of course, the downfall of Okonkwo. He has never seen the positive influence of a woman, except the priestess Chielo; yet even she does not have enough power over him, and he ignores her advice involving the death of Ikemefuna. Regular women have no say in his behavior, and only those "removed from the pale of normalcy" (Mezu 4), acting under the cover of magic or religion, receive any sort of respect. All the negative feelings he has for the laziness and supposed 'femininity' of his father and transferred into feelings of disgust at any femininity in himself and his son. If Okonkwo were not so pre-occupied with power and manliness, Mezu argues, he would not have become over-ruled by his pride. "Excessive emphasis on virility, sex-role stereotyping, gender-discrimination, and violence create an imbalance, a resultant denigration [. . .] such denigration brings Okonkwo to ruin" (Mezu 3). Mezu proposes that perhaps "Umuofia's shabby and denigrating treatment of women and wives stem from the unconscious fear of, rather than reverence for" (Mezu 4) the earth-gods African cultures worshipped. The men of the society in Things Fall Apart "come down heavily indeed on ordinary women whose lives they can control as they like" (Mezu 4). If Okonkwo had listened to the advice of one of his wives, or the advice of Chielo, perhaps his downfall would not have ensued.

Femininity is an interesting principle in Things Fall Apart; the society in the novel has scorned the idea of women and their influence being positive in any way. This article adeptly investigates why this is so, and Rose Ure Mezu'sexamination of this anti-feminine feeling in Achebe's society certainly helps to clarify why Okonkwo behaves the way he does. Mezu connects Achebe's depiction of women to Okonkwo, and how the lack of a female presence negatively affects him.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994.

Mezu, Rose Ure. Women in Achebe's World. Womanist Theory and Research. University of

Georgia.Vol. 1, No. 2. Summer 1995. 27 January 2007. http://www.uga.edu/~womanist/1995/mezu.html>