Things Fall Apart, An Examination of the Treatment of Women Essay

Even the crops were gendered (Okhamafe 127). Coco-yams, beans, and cassava were “women’s crops” (Achebe 23). Yam, the “king of crops”, was “a man’s crop” (Achebe 23). In Umofia, all that is desirable and admired is associated with manliness. Anything that is demeaning or scornful is considered to be womanly.

In the tribal villages of eastern Africa the Maasai marriages are arranged by the elders without ever first consulting the bride or the mother of the bride to be. Unlike, that of my own culture in the United States of America, where I am free as a citizen to choose whomever I may choose to marry and when and if I may marry. Polygyny is that of which is practiced in the Maasai culture, as an ideal that is achieved only by that of the elder men of the tribe. Unfortunately, as a result ofthemen being much older at the time of marriage, most women become widows, knowing that it is understood that they should never remarry again.

Feminist theory is the advocacy of gender equality in terms of respect, opportunities and social rights. The Crucible by Arthur Miller represents the conventional feminist gender struggle, through the medium of an androcentric patriarchal society built on the ideals of religion. In Salem, woman are portrayed as the lower class of society, patronised by men such as Proctor “I am looking for you more often than my cows!" comparing Mary to a farm animal is indicative of their perceived place. Furthermore, the violent way the men within Salem converse with woman “You will confess yourself or I will whip you to death, Tituba! demonstrates the lack of impartiality and feelings that theyhave on a woman’s fundamental rights. Miller’s use of

Before the arrival of European influence, villagers of Umuofia had a single option for a way of life. It was a place to be feared, dominated by war and violent practices. Ibo culture is centered on a patriarchal system based on hierarchy; the highest titles held by male egwugwu in the legal system and the osu at the bottom. The main character, Okonkwo, represents the ambition to strive for a higher position in society in order to gain status: “His life had been ruled by a great passion-to become one of the lords of the clan” (131). Another aspect in Ibo culture is the representation of women. They are undermined in order for men to achieve success; bride prices are used to able men to marry more than one wife and husbands are

Feminists have been active in their role for decades. The first women who were proponents of women's rights, advocates for self-promotion of women's freedoms and leaders of women into the 20th century, I believe would be appalled at where the current "feminists" have taken their cause. In the late 1960's a movement ensued, a movement of great proportions. This ideological stance of women needing to empower themselves against men and their "inherent violence" began a degradation of men's roles in family and society. Men have been silenced as fathers and husbands. In the early 20th century, boys were taught to protect women, open doors for them, help them carry their groceries and never to hit a woman. The feminists would have us

-After Nwoye is lured into the Christian religion and abandons his culture and family, Okonkwo is ashamed and states, "you have all see the great abomination of your brother. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold his head up among my people" (172). Nwoye's father disowns him only because he chooses a path untraditional to his culture. The serious, frustrated, and unhappy mood that is created in Okonkwo's statement gives the reader an idea of how much the Ibo culture values tradition, choice, and family.

use of fighting for a vote if we have not got a country to vote in?"

In the Ibo culture, when a woman was to be married, the family of her suitor would come and inspect her to be sure she was beautiful and ripe enough to be a part of their family. A woman did not have any value other than her beauty and her abilities to cook and bear children. In a conversation between Okonkwo and his friend Obierika, they spoke of two other villages where their ''customs are all upside down'' and ''titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives'' (73).

Polygyny and father-son Inheritance are important aspects of the igbo culture although they are only two of many. Polygyny is the practice of having multiple wives, which in the igbo tribe determined your social status. “ There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo’s village who had three huge

The Gbadi tribe settles in Lofa County, they practice both traditional and western marriage. I BENEDICT S. KPEHE belong to this tribe. Here in I will discuss the mate selection and marriage pattern of tribal group in Liberia taking the Gbandi tribe as case study.

Kinship becomes important to the Mbuti when selecting a spouse. Kinship recognition is only important when choosing a wife or husband. No person is allowed to marry kin on their mother's or father's side of the family. Unlike, western societies, there are no formal ritual for marriage or divorce. People are considered married once the couple moves in together. They believe marrying outside their age

Family plays a big role in everybody’s life. Some families are good and some are bad. But all families are important. In the story Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, family is very important in the lives of the Igbo. The gender roles of the Igbo family are very important. The father, the mother, and the children of the Igbo family all have different roles. They all do different tasks that help the family and support each other. The gender roles of the father, the mother, and the children are important very important to a Igbo family.

It is undeniable that Ekwefi had an excruciatingly painful past. Ekwefi wanted nothing more than to be a mother; unfortunately, the birth of all but one of her children “became mere physical agony devoid of promise” (77). Nine of the ten children that she bore had been buried before the age of three, and “her sorrow gave way to despair and then to grim resignation” (77). Her husband, Okonkwo, visited the medicine man to try and figure out what was going wrong. He was told that “the child was an ogbanje, one of

In the passage a friend of Okonkwo's son is getting married. “The bride price had been paid and all but the last ceremony had been performed” (Achebe 132). The passage is written in a matter of fact tone which makes it seem like that is how it has always been and is a logical part of a marriage in Umuofia. Bride price for them means that the husband's family must pay the wife what she is worth in their currency which is cowries. This implies that the women are valuable because the family of the wife must get something in return for allowing her to marry and

The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta follows the story of Aku-nna, a young girl from the Ibo people of Nigeria, who reaches the marrying age after her father’s death. While anticipated to bring in a large sum of money from marriage, she refuses to date any of the suitors presented to her, instead choosing her lover, a descendant of slaves, and bringing dishonor upon her family. A suitor then kidnaps her, but she manages to escape him and elope with her lover; she eventually dies in childbirth with their conceived daughter. In the novel, Nigerian culture, specifically of the Ibo people, establishes a patriarchal society. Because of this, women are treated as inferior, as evident by expectations and marriage/dating customs that infringe upon their freedom and dignity. The role of women in Ibo society is demonstrated in The Bride Price by the expectations to be obedient under the ownership of older males, to fulfil motherhood as early and fruitfully as possible, to abide by menstrual hygiene rules, to be pure through chastity, and to follow such standards or else bring shame upon their family.