Things Fall Apart1

A detailed Summary of Things Fall Apart1

"It is the woman whose child has been eaten by a witch who best knows the evils of witchcraft." That simple saying can best relate to the experience of women in the Umuofian society. A person cannot truly hope to understand how things work unless he or she was there to experience it. And that can apply to learning a new language, a new culture or learning history. The perspective given from the book Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, states the way of life without any favoritism towards any particular way of life. Achebe just affirmed that lifestyle as a native would, void of any outside influences. In this case, the male narration focuses not only of the tragedy of Okonkwo, but also how the people around are affected and how in turn the culture affects him. Women seem to play a minor role in everyday life, but their function in the community is just as important as that of the men.

The main role that was given to women was that they belonged in the home and for the most part they were to bee seen and not heard. Their influence and authority do not exist much in that culture, especially for the wives of Okonkwo. A main character in the novel, Okonkwo has several wives. Okonkwo presided over all

Achebe shows that the Ibo nonetheless assign significant roles to women. For instance, women painted the houses of the egwugwu . Furthermore, the first wife of a man in the Ibo society is paid some respect. This esteem is illustrated by the palm wine ceremony at Nwakibie's obi. Anasi, Nwakibie's first wife, had not yet arrived and "the others could not drink before her" (Pg 20). The value of woman's role appears when Okonkwo is exiled to his motherland. His uncle, Uchendu, noticing Okonkwo's distress, eloquently explains how Okonkwo should view his exile: "A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland." (Pg 134) A man has both joy and sorrow in his life and when the bad times come his "mother" is always there to comfort him. Thus comes the saying "Mother is Supreme" (Pg 133).

Perhaps Umuofia's degrading treatment of women and wives comes from unconscious fear of, rather than reverence for, the unpredictable Earth goddess Ani, who wreaks such turmoil on the townspeople's lives. She is the goddess of fertility. She also gives or holds back children; she spurns twin children who must be thrown away; she prohibits anyone inflicted with shameful diseases from burial in her soil. To the men of Umuofia, she must seem the embodiment of the two-faced Greek furies -- vengeful, un

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Approximate Word count = 929
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English