Discuss the role of women in the novel. How are feminine qualities of the Ibo culture important to its survival? Women: Weak Gender?! In the novel “Things fall apart” by Chinua Achebe we are introduced to a different Africa than most of us know. We travel back in time and go to the pre-colonial Africa, more specifically Nigeria, to a village known as Umofia where the Ibo people live. The Ibo people form a very archaic and agriculture based society.
Achebe introduces us to this new world that was seen by the Europeans as an unsociable and savage place and shows that the African culture was destroyed by the arrival of the Europeans in that land. But not only that, he brings up different points of social analysis like religion, the taboo “white people vs. black people” during the colonial period and the role of women within the Ibo Society. And that is exactly the point I will be approaching in this essay: the female presence in the society and their importance for/in the society.All over the world and in different cultures and societies women are not treated as equals and throughout the years they earned their space and status in society with hard work.
And it is no different in the novel “Things fall apart” by Chinua Achebe. Women, in the Ibo culture, are portrayed as having no power or social status but are still strong figures. This characterization is true to some extent, as throughout the novel the varied roles of women and their participation in the society are unraveled.In the novel, the readers follow the history of Okonkwo, some sort of hero in the village of Umofia.
He is very strong in every sense of the word and his biggest characteristic is to never consent with weakness and failure. And the language used within his society makes the connection between ‘weakness’ and ‘women’. Okonkwo himself used to be called “Agbala” as a child, which in his society is meant for a man who has no titles or a “woman” (as for an insult) for it is a woman’s name.In one episode, after killing Ikemefuna, Okonkwo asks himself “when did you become a shivering old woman? ” (Page 45). Such connections characterize women as the weak part of the society.
Another characteristic in the society that indicates the little power women have is the activities they are enrolled with. They are assigned to very stereotyped tasks for a society that has women with no social status. They are restrained to housekeeping, cooking their husbands’ meals and also for the festivities. They have no significant presence in the rituals.
A further point that weakens the female presence in this society is that they allow wife beating. In the novel, there are two instances where Okonkwo is beating his second wife, but he is punished for only one of them because it happens during their “Week of Peace”, the time where no man shall raise their hand to another and no rude words should be addressed. Nevertheless, Achebe also shows that important roles and characteristics are given to women. A perfect example of powerful female figures is the role women play in religion.
Women often are the priestess of the tribe. In chapter three (page 12) there is a passage referring to these characters “The priestess in those days, was a woman called Chika. ” And there is also a reference to the present priestess (page 34) “(…) was called Chielo, the priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. ” And the priestess Chielo, is in fact, the only female figure ( or the only figure, for that matter ) who gives an order to Okonkwo in the occasion when she comes for Okonkwo’s daughter, Ezinma.
’Beware, Okonkwo! ’ she warned”. She’s not only ordering him to give his daughter but also threating him as well.Continuing in the religious line, they revere a couple of Goddess. And one of them is in fact a highly respected and important figure for them. The Earth Goddess, Ani. As a matter of fact, the “Week of Peace” is in her honor.
A variety of examples of the power of these women sprinkle throughout the novel: women performing different tasks with significant importance. They are the ones who paint the houses of the egwugwu. The spirits of the ancestors. ) In the first pages of the book it is also mentioned that the most potent war medicine they have is named after a woman. And it is also possible to see, how the first wife of every man is paid some respect for she is the only who is allowed to wear the anklets of her husband’s titles and also, during the Palm-wine ceremony, where the first wife is the first to drink and the others have to wait for her. Another perfect example of women’s power is their emotional strength.
This is not explicit in the novel but trough the reading it becomes evident how they overcome their status (or the lack of it) in society, mistreatment and other misfortunes – when, for instance, they give birth to twins and have to throw them in the Evil Forest –. Under these circumstances one has to be emotionally strong to survive and that is exactly what these women do. In chapter 10, a serious case of beating is brought to the egwugwu and the Evil Forest comes in the wife’s favor and says “It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman. (page 66)Another proof of trust is the performances of women in farming, where they are designated to prepare the field for the yams in which if it is not done correctly the yams fail.
So it is a very important task. But above all things, the most important feature assembled to women appears when Okonkwo is exiled in his motherland. The idea of women’s power being closely linked to nature is brought up by Okonkwo’s uncle, Uchendu, when he reproaches Okonkwo for his sorrow about having to come to live with his mother’s clan.He says: “It's true that a child belong to its father. But when a father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet.
But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there. And that is why we say that mother is supreme” (page 94) The idea conveyed in his speech is that the woman is the foundation of the clan and its people.
She is the one you can always rely on.To conclude, at a first glance the role of women is this society might seem extremely limited and they are harshly repressed socially . But through the novel one can see that they in fact have considerable positions. Spiritually, as the priestess and the Oracle, symbolically as the Goddesses and also as the basis of the society. And also, literally for their actual duties in farming, which is vital for this society. They might seem to be looked down upon, but they compose in fact some of the strings that hold the Ibo people together until it falls apart.
