Social hierarchy and masculinity in Things Fall Apart's opening

¶ … opening scenes of "Things Fall Apart," author Chinua Achebe sets the leader of the Umuofia in a highly specific social, tribal context. Okonkwo is respected for his ability as a military fighter amongst the Umuofia, and he is both typical and atypical of his people. On one hand, the society is not entirely warlike, as Okonkwo's father Unoka is well-known for his gentle temperament and excellence in music -- but also his inability to financially provide for his family. Unoka is an "unsuccessful man" (3) Okonkwo, in contrast, has three wives and is very wealthy, with a barn full of yams (6). Although Okonkwo is able to provide his family with material wealth, his presence is not a comforting one: "He breathed heavily; and it was said that, when he slept, his wives and the children in their out-houses could hear him breathe" (3) the equation of manhood with the ability to control and provide for women is exemplified in the first crisis of the novel, when a neighboring tribe murdered the wife of one of the Umuofia. In revenge, Okonkwo extracts the payment of the young boy Ikemefuna, to whom he gives to his first wife to raise. Taking the 'riches' of the competing Mbiano clan are equated with taking representatives of their next generation.