Nichaporn Nattawut

English 12
4​th​ December, 2018

The Repercussions of a Belief of Masculinity

Beside the green bush, outside the compound, the body is found hanging and

swinging from the tree. His body is no longer breathing. His soul is fleeing to another world,

carrying his enormous dignity and his strong belief of manliness away. In ​Things Fall Apart​,

one of Chinua Achebe’s novels narrating African life in Nigeria, the story is driven through

the experience of Okonkwo, the main character, who is a wealthy man and a great warrior in

the clan named Umuofia. As the clan rewards men according to the work they do, Okonkwo

who desires to succeed has an awareness in masculinity and power. He furthermore uses

those beliefs as a means to become who he is now, famous and powerful. However, by

becoming who he is, he, in turn, loses other important things. In this novel, Achebe conveys

that Okonkwo’s belief of masculinity destroys the bonds, family and himself.

Okonkwo’s belief of masculinity destroys his relationship with others within the clan.

Okonkwo whose father, Unoka, has no title and is considered as an unsuccessful man feels

ashamed of his father. Consequently, he hates every trait that his father has, for instance,

recklessness and laziness. He, as a result, believes in power and masculinity in which his

abominated father does not have. He thinks of showing fondness candidly as a sign of

weakness and femininity: “He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else - with

a heavy hand” (p. 28). He, on the other hand, only expresses the feelings of anger and

superiority towards others: “Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said: ‘This meeting is

for men.’ The man who had contradicted him had no titles. That was why he had called him a

woman… Everybody at the kindred meeting took sides with Osugo when Okonkwo called

him a woman” (p. 26). Since it is said that males do not have an emotional literacy, and as a

result, they cannot express what they are thinking (Olson, 2015), Okonkwo who is male acts

in the same way, in the way that males do not show affection. He, in this case, treats
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4​th​ December, 2018

Ikemefuna, with “a heavy hand” even though he has a fond of him. By believing that showing

the true feelings is considered as femininity, he surely destroys the relationship since no one

can know his feelings unless he expresses them and by showing his opposite feelings, he

might be misunderstood by others which may lead to further conflicts. Okonkwo’s belief of

manliness is so strong that he himself cannot resist and continues showing what he thinks is

appropriate, not feminine. The way he talks to Osugo also demonstrates the fact that he really

values masculinity. Having titles is the way to prove the masculinity and power; therefore,

Okonkwo who has many titles feels that his pride is despised by Osugo who has no title as he

challenges him during the meeting. In other words, Okonkwo firmly believes in power

structure in which the more titles means the more power and the more respect; however, he is

challenged by the person who is in the lower class, so he feels that he who is more powerful

should not be treated like that. As a result, he calls Osugo a woman to make he himself looks

more superior, and that action makes Osugo and others feel so bad that they might not friend

with Okonkwo anymore. Therefore, by believing in masculinity, Okonkwo has destroyed his

relationship with others. Not only he destroys the relationship with people within the clan, but

he also destroys his own family.

Okonkwo’s belief in manliness causes his family to be torn apart. In Umuofia men are

taught to have many wives and children to indicate their power and honor. In other words, the

more wives you have, the more respect you earn. With this belief, Okonkwo ends up having

three wives and in total, ten children. One of his children, Nwoye, is the oldest son among

ten. Okonkwo supposes Nwoye to be like him, hard-working and masculine, but instead, as

time goes, Nwoye has become more like his father, Unoka, weak and feminine. To convert

Nwoye’s personalities, Okonkwo, more often than not, hurts him and scolds harshly at him

when he cannot do what he is expected to do. Later in the novel, after Christianity is
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4​th​ December, 2018

spreaded, Nwoye has converted into the new faith: “But he was happy to leave his father. He

would return later to his mother and his brothers and sisters and convert them to the new

faith” (p.152). This quote shows the destruction of the family’s bond as Nwoye no longer

cares about his father. Since Nwoye is treated badly by his father, he decides to turn back

from what Okonkwo believes in. To begin with, the primary reason in which Okonkwo

believes in masculinity is from the Igbo culture as the culture itself values men from the work

they do. As a result, Okonkwo fully trusts masculinity with his life and wants to spread his

belief to his son, Nwoye; however, his son is unlike him. Nwoye is not that strong and he is

not a warrior. He cannot be what his father expects him to be. The pressure created on him

finally explodes leading him to follow a different pathway from his father; in this case, he

chooses Christianity. The fact that Nwoye has turned away from Igbo belief to Christianity

truly emphasizes that Nwoye will no longer walk beside his father. In short, Okonkwo’s

family is destroyed by his own belief of masculinity. While his belief of manliness ruins his

relationship with people in the clan and his family, his belief, in the end, destroys himself.

Okonkwo’s belief of masculinity is one of the factors leading him to end his life.

Okonkwo who has a great dignity is exiled from his fatherland, Umuofia, for seven years.

During that time, Christianity is spreaded all over the village and, as a result, Umuofia is no

longer the same.​ ​Okonkwo, after the exile, has come back to the clan and has noticed such

changes occurred as the creation of a government known as the District Commissioner and

the construction of church. The Christians own their court and capture people who do wrong

according to their judgements including Okonkwo and the elderly of the clan. Once they are

released after being imprisoned and humiliated, the meeting is created to discuss what the

clan should do, but during the meeting, the court messengers have come. Out of the blue,

Okonkwo decides to kill one of the messengers: “Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and
Nichaporn Nattawut
English 12
4​th​ December, 2018

the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body… Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He

knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers

escape. They had broken into tumult instead of action” (p. 204-205). Okonkwo is first

humiliated by the Christians; therefore, he wants a revenge. He takes action without thinking,

and no one follows him even though Umuofia is a clan in which the masculinity is considered

as honor. No one cares what Christianity has done to the him; therefore, Okonkwo feels

disappointed and betrayed by the people and the originated belief of the clan. According to ​A

Celebration of Grandfathers​, Rudolfo Anaya (1983) writes “The old people I remember from

my childhood were strong in their beliefs” (para. 2). Okonkwo is also considered as an old

person, and the quote above does emphasize why he has a strong belief as he is embedded in

masculinity since he was young. As a result, when the clan has changed, Okonkwo who feels

betrayed no longer wants to stay in the clan. He eventually decides to commit a suicide to

escape from the world in which there is no masculinity left.

To sum up, Okonkwo’s belief of masculinity does help him to become who he is now;

on the other hand, the belief breaks Okonkwo’s relationship with people within the village,

his relationship with his family and eventually, himself. With a strong belief, we might do

unexpected things that cause harmful and detrimental effects. Thus, we should not believe in

something so much that it backfires us afterwards, like Okonkwo.

Nichaporn Nattawut
English 12
4​th​ December, 2018

References

Achebe, C. (1959). ​Things Fall Apart​. New York: Penguin Books.

Olson, S. (2015, March 22). What It Means To ‘Be A Man’: How Male Stereotypes Try To

Fit Growing Boys Into A Mold, And Fail. Retrieved:

https://www.medicaldaily.com/what-it-means-be-man-how-male-gender-stereotypes-t

ry-fit-growing-boys-mold-and-fail-326450

Anaya, R. (1983). ​A Celebration of Grandfathers​ [PDF file]. Retrieved from

https://e.edim.co/77762013/A_Celebration_of_Grandfathers.pdf?response-content-dis

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