Things Fall Apart Theme Presentation Nate Litnovetsky

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe features many examples of gender roles and imbalances within the village of Umuofia, and this story shows that power, influence, and respect can be determined by gender.

The first instance of this theme appears when Okonkwo is at a meeting with some of the clansmen and is offended by one of the other men. “Only a week ago a man had contradicted him at a kindred meeting which they held to discuss the next ancestral feast. Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said: "This meeting is for men." The man who had contradicted him had no titles. That was why he had called him a woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man's spirit.” (iv, 26). Here, Okonkwo implies that the other man is a woman in a form of insult. This shows that the men in Umuofia consider women inferior to them, so much so that being compared to one would be such a lethal insult that it would “kill their spirit”.

Another moment which signifies gender imbalances occurs in Obierika’s hut, where the men are discussing the details of a marriage between Obierika’s son and a woman from another tribe. “As he was speaking the boy returned, followed by Akueke, his half-sister, carrying a wooden dish with three kola nuts and alligator pepper. She gave the dish to her father's eldest brother and then shook hands, very shyly, with her suitor and his relatives. She was about sixteen and just ripe for marriage. Her suitor and his relatives surveyed her young body with expert eyes as if to assure themselves that she was beautiful and ripe.” (viii, 69). Akueke enters the room and the men are all staring at her as if she was an object, fantasizing about consuming her while describing her figure as you would a fruit, all while she remains silent. This underlines the lack of respect that men hold for the women in their tribe, as they objectify and analyze the girl directly in front of her, as if she wasn’t a human with thoughts and opinions.

The final occurrences of gender inequality is evident when considering the Egwugwu hut in Umuofia. “These women never saw the inside of the hut. No woman ever did. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men. If they imagined what was inside, they kept their imagination to themselves. No woman ever asked questions about the most powerful and the most secret cult in the clan.” (x, 86). In this tribe the Egwugwu hut is one of the most sacred places, where the 7 representatives of the gods go to change into their costumes of deities. The women not being permitted inside or even to imagine what is inside the most sacred hut shows a clear divide among genders, not to mention the fact that the women are not even allowed to clean the outside walls of the hut unless under the supervision of a man. This surveillance shows a great mistrust that the men have for the women, as well as shows how they prohibit women from doing certain things that they are permitted to do.

Overall, Umuofia is clearly a tribe dominated by men who show no mutual respect towards their opposite gender. Between the men using the term woman as an insult, objectifying them like fruits, or supervising them like watchdogs, Things Fall Apart is filled with evidence of power, influence, and respect being determined by gender, and showcases an obvious favor towards being a man in an African Tribe .