Examples Of Manliness In Okonkwo

Within Ibo culture, masculinity was highly praised whilst femininity was scorned, and being a feminine man was one of the worst things you could be, especially in the eyes of Okonkwo. He perceived his father to be weak and womanly so he modeled his life after being the opposite of his father. And he forced this mindset onto his son as well. These toxic ideas of masculinity ultimately backfired, forcing Nwoye away from his father's culture. Nwoye's response to the missionaries and decision to join their church is a direct result of his father's unhealthy attitudes about how Nwoye should be and how he should act.

Okonkwo's fear of being perceived as weak tragically leads to him to be unnecessarily violent and excessively prideful. These two fatal flaws lead to Okonkwo’s own emotional isolation, and his inevitable downfall. Driven by the fear of being seen as weak and emasculated, Okonkwo exhibits hyper masculinity and rage. Although this behavior initially leads to success in the patriarchal society of Umofia, rage is his greatest bane: it masks his compassion and pusillanimity. Onkonkwo’s obsession to never appear feminine is driven to the extreme. He denies affection even to his own family, “never show[ing] any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To [Okonkwo] show[ing] affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.” (pg. 28). Okonkwo whose “whole life [is] dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” (pg. 13) suppress his compassion in order to appear important and manly. Ironically this creates a stark juxtaposition between his own fear and his position as an alpha male. Rather than being masculine and courageous, Okonkwo just creates tension within his family and within himself. The pinnacle of this extreme hypermasculinity is when Okonkwo ignores the wisdom of the elder Ezeudu, and violently kills his “son” Ikamafuna: “As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He had heard Ikamafuna cry “My father, they have killed me!”

This connects Okonkwo to a lion, which is often thought of as a strong, courageous, and noble creature. A lot of what is implied here refers to the theme of Self-Made Man by showing just what kinds of troubles Okonkwo had to go through as he was younger to get to the point he was at then. It could also be in reference to Masculinity of Males by showing us just what they are expected to be able to deal with in the worst of times. If one cannot survive such a time, they are expected to die with no sympathy from the others. The man is supposed to be seen as the calming influence in the family, for so long as he is strong, so is his family.

Through the character of Okonkwo, Achebe illustrates the dangers of being selfish. Although successful, Okonkwo is one of the most aggressively selfish men among the Igbo people based on his self-centered needs and desires. This characteristic is prevalent throughout the entirety of the novel, and there are always consequences to his actions. For example, Okonkwo is fond of calling men “women” to make himself look more masculine. He does this to Osugo in front of a group of men in a meeting. “Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit. Everybody at the kindred meeting took sides with Osugo when Okonkwo called him a woman” (Achebe 26). Since the other men sided with Osugo, Okonkwo’s punishment for this narcissistic outburst is embarrassment. Continuing,

From the very first sentences in the novel we see Okonkwo as this very strong and successful man, he is the epitome of “manliness” In the Igbo society. He became who he was by seeing his father, Unoka, as a failure who held no titles and couldn’t feed his family. Okonkwo was determined to be nothing like him as we can see on page 7 “When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of hem?” This drive to be the manliest man possible led Okonkwo to do some very brutal things like take five human heads in war. He even killed his adopted son, Ikemefuna, in fear of looking weak to his clansmen.

In addition, it is an insult to a man or boy if they possess any female qualities. Guilt ridden after murdering Ikemefuna, his surrogate son, Okonkwo sternly reprimands himself not to “become like a shivering old woman” – this he considers the worst insult (65). Okonkwo also relates negatively to his oldest son Nwoye, who according to Okonkwo possess weak qualities and thus acts like a woman. He wanted Nwoye to listen to “masculine stories of violence and bloodshed” rather than the stories told by women which were for “foolish women and children” (54). The stories that men told were about bravery and war and young men were expected to listen to this instead of fairy tales that women told. “So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi, and he told them stories of the land” – while Nwoye feigned that he liked the stories his father told him to make him a man, he preferred his mother’s that he heard while growing up that kept his spirit gentle.

The connection that Okonkwo has with masculinity is that he shows to others who is in control. He ends up beating up one of his wives because of the assumption

Okonkwo is also incredibly aggressive. He regularly physically abuses his nuclear family and does so to make himself seem more masculine. His violence in order to protect his fragile masculinity goes to the extent that “his wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper.” (2.12) After the missionaries arrive in Umuofia and Okonkwo’s

Okonkwo abides by the rules of masculinity long after it suits his life. Okonkwo thought women we inferior to men. During the Week of Peace, Ojiugo lied to her husband; in the novel it states, “And when she returned he beat her very heavily” (Achebe 29). Okonkwo’s anger took over him. His vision of himself was so great that he thought he could beat his own wife, even during the Week of Peace. Okonkwo’s favorite child would be Ezinma, but she cannot be as great as he would want her to be because she is a female. Okonkwo openly said, “She should have been a boy” (Achebe 64). Okonkwo thinks that his daughter is great, but because she is not a boy he can not admire her. He thinks she would have been better a boy because, in his mind, he thinks men are greater beings than women. Okonkwo cannot wait for his son Nwoye to grow up and be as great of a man as he was. The novel states, “He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father’s household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestor” (Achebe 53). Even though Okonkwo likes Ezinma, he thinks Nwoye will keep his legacy going after he is dead. Ironically, Nwoye leaves his father’s side and joins the missionaries, while Ezinma stood by Okonkwo’s side. The reasoning for Okonkwo’s exile was due to Okonkwo shooting a young boy

He often "wish[es] she [Ezinma] were a boy."(122) For his son, "he wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his... household." (37) The failure of his son to live up to Okonkwo's expectations for him are another factor in Okonkwo's own innate need to be exceptionally masculine.

Okonkwo has a tragic flaw, dark downfall, but does not recognize his flaw as the cause of his downfall. This conveys the theme that one’s insecurity will lead to their demise, regardless of their intent. First, Okonkwo’s flaw is his insecurity rooted in his need for masculinity. Okonkwo fears the idea that “he should be found to resemble his father” and was a “man of action, a man of war. Unlike his father he could stand the look of blood” (13, 10). Given how Okonkwo’s father was a man of no wealth or status, he was seen as feminine. Refusing to resemble his father, Okonkwo becomes a strong, masculine man. Additionally, Okonkwo’s downfall was the result of multiple events that threaten his masculinity. Okonkwo’s first major offense was killing Ikemefuna out of fear of weakness despite being told to “not bear a hand in his death” (57). Additionally, the crime that forced Okonkwo into exile is when his “gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy’s heart” (124). Furthermore, Okonkwo’s need for power causes him to kill a messenger as his “machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body” (204). As a result of his need to appear masculine, Okonkwo makes one foolish decision after another that culminate to his downfall. His refusal to not kill Ikemefuna was done out of fear of seeming weak, his crime that sent him to exile was deemed

Agreed upon by almost all of Umofia, participating in storytelling that did not depict violence and bloodshed was considered an event for women. When a man, or even a boy, was seen telling or listening to stories that were not about violence, they were automatically depicted as weak, and that they were not at all manly. “That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. But he knew that they were for foolish women and children, and his father wanted him to be a man. Nwoye is a perfect example of this, Nwoye is very lazy, he has no motivation, and that is seen as not at all manly. When Nwoye is seen listening to feminine stories, it is not a surprise to anybody, because he was already seen as feminine. It was disappointing to his father Okonkwo though, because Okonkwo’s biggest fear was being seen as weak and feminine by others, and he wanted his son to be like

Throughout the novel of Things Fall Apart , Okonkwo, the main protagonist, believes that feminine traits are a sure sign of weakness. To make sure that he doesn’t become labeled as a woman like his useless father, he becomes cold and hard because he in his eyes, that’s how a man should act. The only emotion he shows is anger, which leads to his exile and separation from his fellow clansman. Okonkwo, however, doesn’t seem to understand how his way of thinking could put him in such predicaments. In Okonkwo’s village, a man’s personal god, or chi will determine if he is fated for great things.

The book shows that men care a lot about their pride. Sometimes a man’s pride, reputation, and masculinity, is everything to him. He does everything in his power to achieve his desires; he worked for a wealthy man named Nwakibie to earn his first yam seeds (14). Okonkwo shows that nothing worth having comes easy. Thus men work hard to gain titles to build a wealthy reputation, prided because of large yam harvest, and showing off their masculinity and strength through skills in battles and wrestling matches. Their pride, reputation, and masculinity is an important part of their life.

The only thing he (Okonkwo) fears most is not ending up like his father, Unoka. However, Achebe ‘‘makes an insightful comment on the nature of masculinity through his representation of the tribal leaders. Achebe basically, was conducive in creating four alter egos of Okonkwo: one of which were the masculinity; next of his fatherly abilities; and the last of his family progress and four of his likelihood of success’’ (Achebe.179). My paper will explain how Okonkwo’s Masculinity from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart will be characterized by his fears, beliefs, and emotions for several reasons.