I plan on including the feminism lens in my essay on Achebe's "Things Fall Apart". Throughout the book Achebe reveals the strong male dominance in the Umuofia clan through characters such as Okonkwo and most other male characters. In my essay I plan on using Okonkwo as one of my main topics' even though he isn’t female or a victim of feminism. I feel that the way Achebe portrays him still relates to the feminism lens. Based on his fathers actions, he has become more masculine to make up for his fathers mistakes. This masculine ego in turn shapes how he thinks and treats women with-in the Tribe. Don’t get me wrong Okonkwo isn’t the only male guilty of feminism, just about every male in the book sees women as replaceable objects instead of real human beings. For example, when Ogbuefi Udo’s wife was killed the virgin they requested from the other tribe was given to Ogbuefi as a gift. This shows how women in that time were portrayed as objects rather than human beings.
After the death of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo falls into a weak state in which he referred to himself as being a “shivering old women”(55). By being in a weak state, and referring to himself as being a shivering old woman he is portraying women as weak and powerless. Another possible point is how Okonkwo views his oldest son Nwoye. He sees him as lazy and emotional, and likes to do women’s chores. The ironic twist is that Okonkwos favorite child is his daughter for she is masculine unlike most women, and shares more similarities with her father than the rest. Okonkwo’s masculine ego might created a reverse effect on his children where his daughter want to be like him so she can get respect and in Nwoye’s case he views his father as someone he doesn’t want to become.
The main reason I chose to talk about feminism is that I was very unclear about the postcolonial lens. So far this is what I plan to talk about in my essay. Please let me know if I do not understand topic, or if I’m heading in the wrong direction with the feminism lens. Honestly there parts of the book I didn’t read so I wouldn’t be surprised if I were off topic.
