Things Fall Apart: Gender Roles and Toxic Masculinity

The 1958 novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, follows the life of the protagonist, Okonkwo, a leader and a local athletic hero in a made-up Nigerian hamlet, named Umuofia. The novel is divided into three very distinct sections— the first which examines the family of the hero, another his personal perspective and lineage along with the current societal customs, the following sections look at the influence of outsiders on the village such as colonists from the United Kingdom and missionaries of the Christian faith. Despite these clear separations within the book, there is a consistent treatment of gender and gender roles that paint a disturbing picture. Achebe’s novel shows the scathing legacy of destruction that strict gender roles can unleash upon society. The strict divisions of gender and gendered work, along with gendered roles in society, are one of the ways this society manifests fear. Rather than confronting the source of the fear, the society at large and its leaders allow this fear to create dysfunction, even if that dysfunction wields much destruction.
In the society of Umoufia, all things connected women or to things that are female or feminine, are considered weaker or subordinate. One of the most flagrant ways in which this manifests is in the treatment of crops: crops were either male or female and the most profitable, nutrient crops were always male. Consider the following: “His mother and sister worked hard enough, but they grew women’s crops, like cocoa-yams, beans and cassava. Yams, the kind of crops, was a man’s crops” (Achebe 1996, p.16). This is just another way in which the author demonstrates how in this society, all things which are at the pinnacle of excellence are masculine; all things which are subordinate are feminine. By constructing society in this way, the leaders of the village can be certain that women will feel inferior and will feel less than, and thus “know their place.”
Umoufia society is a judgmental one, and there are very clear expectations regarding how women should act, the ideal qualities ascribed to them, and how men should act. It is disgraceful if men should ever embody qualities that are considered feminine. Such disgrace is something Okonkwo is made to understand firsthand. His father is known to be a failure by everyone in the village in part because he is lazy and in part because of his lack of accomplishments. In the midst of his failures, the father is given the term “agbala”: “That is how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman, it could also mean a man who had taken no title” (Achebe, 1996 p. 10). This quote showcases a very revelatory aspect of the society and their perspective upon the worth and value of a woman. A man who has no title is one who has made a minimal financial contribution and essentially has the flimsy value of a woman to society. This piece of evidence serves yet again to demonstrate how the dysfunctional treatment of women within this society is only helping to sow the seeds of their own destruction and the ultimate weakness and demise of the village.
Furthermore, the fact that the society Okonkwo is a member of, so readily demeans his father only helps to create an obsession within the protagonist to become a champion of masculinity, something that ultimately turns toxic (Osei-Nyame, 1999). “Okonkwo’s masculinity becomes a defensive resource and his adherence to a masculine philosophy will thenceforth order his world. In articulating his identity and justifying his actions, he cultivates his masculinity as a defense of personal honor in the face of potentially overwhelming circumstances in an antagonistic universe” (Osei-Nyame, 1999, p.10). And the universe of this village is indeed antagonistic: by constructing such severe gender roles and societal boundaries between genders, the village ensures there is subjugation, fear and tension. Femininity becomes feared and reviled as masculinity becomes a shield to defend oneself with (Osei-Nyame, 1999). Okonkwo’s preoccupation with all things masculine is consistently manifested in his overdramatic assertiveness and his outrageous rejection of particular qualities considered female, such as being gentle or idle. This is just another manifestation of how this society rejects all things feminine and in doing so, rejects a side of its very self and its very history.
As one scholar writes, Okonkwo has a complex and tortured relationship with his father, but the book only makes one direct mention of his mother, presumably the person who spent the most time with him as a child (Jeyifo, 1993). Okonkwo refers to telling the boys of the village stories of violence and bloodshed as they sat with him in his obi, and his son, Nwoye “knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories his mother used to tell him, and which she no doubt still told to her younger children, stories of the tortoise and his wily ways…” (Achebe, 1996, p.38). This excerpt demonstrates the sadness inherent in this toxic masculinity. Young boys are encouraged to dismiss the wonder and imagination of their childhood in exchange to cultivate a thirst of bloodshed. This passage also demonstrates how unnatural forcing this violence and bloodshed is on these young boys: they don’t naturally take to it and instead miss the charming and imaginative stories of their youth. Achebe further demonstrates the lengths of this toxic masculinity that is taken with inculcating these young boys towards a life of violence and tyranny. Nwoye explains that, “he knew now that they were for foolish women and children, and he knew that his father wanted him to be a man” (Achebe, 1996, p.38). This example clearly demonstrates the destructive dismissal of all things gentle and creative have been denigrated to a subordinate zone of only things that women could care about—women who are foolish. Though perhaps the reader should not be surprised that this is the state of things. Okonkwo’s life is “dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe, 1996). This debilitating fear is in part the situation and circumstance that is able to allow such destructive gender constructs to thrive. Living with unbridled fear and insecurity only shackles one to the past and is one of the driving motivating forces in this village.
The novel’s treatment of domestic abuse as a commonplace and even entitled act on behalf of all husbands/fathers in the village, clearly gives evidence to how out of control and rotten the gender constructs of this collective are and remain. When one of his three wives, Ojiugo was “thoughtless” in getting her hair braided rather than considering her dinner obligations, Okonkwo “…beat her very heavily. In his anger he forgot that it was the week of peace. His first two wives ran out pleading with him that it was the sacred week. But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating someone halfway through, not even for fear of a goddess” (Achebe, 1996, p.21). This excerpt gives a very revelatory glimpse into the rotten core of gender relations and roles that permeates throughout Umuofia. Wives who disobey or rather who neglect their duties to their husband (even though in the case of Ojiugo there were two other wives present to cover for her duties) should be beaten very heavily. This is abuse-based behavior and demonstrates a desire to treat women like slaves, worse than one might treat a cow or a donkey. Even the pleading of his other two wives won’t stop him, as Achebe uses a very illuminating turn of phrase: “Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating someone halfway through.” Such an expression implies that there is a desired end result to Okonkwo’s beating, and a halfway point in achieving that goal. For example, Okonkwo wants to perhaps beat her until she had trouble standing or beat her until she is unconscious. This demonstrates a dehumanization of women and a vile monstrosity of behavior afforded to men and encouraged and cultivated in their behavior.
Another very revealing line from this excerpt which demonstrates the destructive subjugation of women that permeates through this very society is as follows: the line states that Okonkwo would not interrupt a beating of one of his wives, not even for fear of a goddess (Anyadike, 2007). One would assume that in the belief system of this village, the gods and goddesses were superior to mortals, but Okonkwo’s interruption of the Week of Peace and all its sacredness would undermine that. Furthermore, a goddess is after all, a female god, and one can only conclude that Okonkwo doesn’t feel as compelled to follow anything decreed by her or in exact line with her teaches. If the devaluing of all that is female extended even to religion and to goddesses, who are supposed to be superior to mortals, this shows just how twisted this society has become. It has created a sense of skewed entitlement that makes men believe they can do exactly as they please, particularly when it comes to women. For example, Okonkwo feels rather entitled in disrupting this week of peace, even for something as foul as beating his wife, and during a sacred week no less. Achebe goes to great lengths to demonstrate how diseased and skewed this toxic masculinity has made Okonkwo: neighbors hear the sounds of him beating his wife but they can’t believe he is actually interrupting the sacred week to do so: “It was unheard of to beat someone during the sacred week” (Achebe, 1996, p. 22). Hence, Achebe demonstrates that Okonkwo’s motivating toxic masculinity was enough to force him to violate the cultural values and traditions of the entire village, just so this rotten core could be satisfied.
In conclusion, the role of gender and the representation of gender constructs and divisions within the novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, demonstrate the vile dysfunction that ultimately leads to the village’s demise. While it would be easier to blame the outside influence of the colonists and missionaries on the village’s downward spiral, the author gives the reader ample evidence that this is misguided. Achebe shows repeatedly that women and men are treated differently in the village of Umuofia. Women are consistently devalued, and viewed as weak and foolish. In fact, as we are shown, the best way to insult a male to imply he is female. Even the very crops they grow are divided into genders with the weaker and less robust crops being deemed female. These distinctions and devaluing of women and all things female only helps to create a toxic masculinity where men are hyper-focused on being strong, fighting, being violent and shedding blood. Anything else is viewed as weak. This imbalance and skewed sense of priorities is ultimately what contributed to the direct destruction of this society, and its eventual unraveling.








References
Ogede, O. (1996). Achebe's Things Fall Apart. A&C Black.
Anyadike, C. (2007). Duality and Resilience in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Philosophia Africana, 10(1), 49-58.
Jeyifo, B. (1993). Okonkwo and his mother: things fall apart and issues of gender in the constitution of African postcolonial discourse. Callaloo, 16(4), 847-858.

Osei-Nyame, G. K. (1999). Chinua Achebe Writing Culture: Representations of Gender and Tradition in Things Fall Apart. Research in African Literatures, 30(2), 148- 164.