Role of
Women in Things Fall Apart
In telling an African
story, it is impossible to do so without mentioning the women who take part in
many of the activities in a society. This is why different stories bring out
women and their roles in the society although the stories may not be talking
about a woman as the main character. Things fall apart is no different in
bringing out the role of the women in a traditional African setting.
Women play pivotal
roles in Educational, Religious and Social care in the book Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe.
In Things fall apart,
women are featured as the main children’s educators. They do these by telling
them stories, teaching them the ethics of socializing with other people and
good behavior especially to the girl child, “…children sat around their
mother’s cooking fire telling stories€¦,” (Achebe 25). The children are taught
good values and morals by their parents and in this case, their mothers, who
encourage them to develop social values and good interaction skills. The woman
was regarded as an inferior object in the society but this did not turn her
down from performing her societal roles especially that of being the educator
of the children.
The upbringing of a
child is what determines what the child will be in the future. In the Ibo
community, the rearing of a child was solely the role of the woman who was
supposed to make sure that the child was well conversant with the customs and
rules of the society. The knowledge of the societal norms was all of importance
to the mother as she needed to educate the children about them. This was to
avoid situations where the child would be in trouble for dishonoring the highly
regarded goddesses or leaders of the community which would be a disgrace to the
family especially the father who would put the blame on the mother and possibly
beat her. Therefore, in a society which is dominated by men, the woman had to
be very careful about the reputation the man would have in the society if
certain unfortunate things happened may be from the behavior of the children or
herself which is the reason why mother education to the children was important.
The woman’s reputation depended on that of the man which was important for the
woman to protect.
The women were also
involved in religious matters and this can be presented in various ways. The
women belonged to the religion of Ibo. They regularly played the part of the
priestess. In the early days, a woman by the name of Chika is seen as a
priestess. She is the former priestess of the oracle during Unoka’s time. This
woman was very powerful and respected by the people (Achebe 17). Thus she
portrays the role of women in religious matters. Currently, Chielo is the
priestess who is also the hill’s and caves’ oracle, “She was the priestess of
Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the caves,” (Achebe 35). In other words,
women are seen taking a great part in religion in the community, for instance,
as priestesses.
The woman is seen to
have a lot of religious power. This is evident when Chielo, a religious woman,
orders and threatens Okonkwo to surrender himself and his daughter to Agbala
who wished to see her. After she warns him, Okonkwo gives in to the idea. Women
in this case are seen as powerful spiritual leaders who can warn and order
their followers in order to do the right thing that is expected of them by the
religion and in this case in the society of Ibo.
Ani was the goddess of
the earth. She was responsible for making sure that the society observed the
right conduct and morals. Ani worked closely with the dead clan members who had
their bodies committed to the earth (Achebe 36).
The community also
believed that they had to honor the earth goddess for blessings in order to
have their yam crops grow. This was done by the members of the clan who had to
strictly observe the peace week before the harvests (Achebe 30). The woman is
seen to have such great spiritual power, honor and respect which are beneficial
to the society and which must be respected in order for something good to
happen like plenty harvests.
The clan members are
greatly worried about having such little harvests when the peace of the earth
goddess, Ani, is broken by Okonkwo when he battered his wife. Wife battering
was not allowed on the peace week (Achebe 30). The women were also involved in
solving problems of a social nature. The mother acts as the comfort not only to
children but also to other men who have problems.
The workforce
consisted of a lot of women. They performed many strenuous tasks that were only
separated for them and that men could not perform. Painting of Egwugwu’s house
was done by women (84).They were also supposed to entertain the children at all
times and make them grow in an artistic manner (Emenyo̲nu and Uko 178).
The woman is seen as a
powerful object that is able to encourage people when feeling low and
demotivated. When the men face some social problems like neglect, the woman
acts to encourage them. Thus, it is said that the mother is a superior being
who does not abandon her children in all situations in life, for instance
Okonkwo who is rejected after killing the son of Ezeudu. It is believed that a
male child is his father’s only when life seems to be flowing well but when in
trouble, it his mother’s. This is better depicted by the uncle of Okonkwo who
then persuades him to go back to his mother as she will accept him at all
situations. Despite all this the mother does not judge or discriminate them.
The woman is considered to be the forgiving and understanding being who can
never reject or look down upon anyone and who will provide help whenever she
can. This is a very important role.
There are two
marriages that are talked about that the writer uses them to show the meaning
of having a woman in the Igbo society. They are the makers of a home, the
prospecting mothers, and people who help men in certain tasks. In any man-woman
relationship, children are the most important and valuable gifts that they can
be given which is not different in this community where the woman is considered
as an important part of the family bearing process (Emenyo̲nu and Uko 176).
Although in an
indirect manner, the importance of a woman and in this case, the first wife in
the Ibo society is portrayed in a celebration held at the Obi of Nwakibie
whereby the other wives are not allowed to drink wine before her arrival
(Achebe 22). The first wife is thus shown special respect and recognition in
the Ibo community.
The name Agbala in the
Ibo community means a woman or a title less man. In his early childhood,
Okonkwo felt disrespected when called the name Agbala as the peers were teasing
him and more so his father who was seen as a weakling. This really tormented
him and made him become obsessed with consideration of social status above
everything else. Okonkwo struggled so much never to be associated with anything
weak as anything weak was likened to a woman and vice versa. Nwoye who is the
son of Okonkwo from his first wife is also insulted by being viewed as
woman-like just because Okonkwo is reminded of his father when he sees him. In
this context we see the woman being looked down upon by the whole Ibo community
as a weak being. The men who are not courageous and violent are also seen to be
as weak as women meaning that the society’s perception of women is that of a
person who is not strong and is weak (Whittaker and Msiska 64).
The woman is generally
looked down upon. We see Okonkwo being punished for disrupting the peace of the
earth goddess but not for buttering his wife. To them wife buttery is not a
crime as according to the society, the woman is only there to give birth, to
perform house chores and cook for the husband and also to be beaten. This is
just how cruel the man is (Whittaker and Msiska 65).
The story was written
in the times when the only important being in the society was seen as the man
and not the woman. The children who turned out to be disgraceful to the society
were all demeaned and likened to a woman. To add to this, the woman would be
blamed for poor upbringing of the children as that was solely considered as her
role (Okpewho 34).
The story however
shows some respect for few female figures that seem to be very significant to
the society, for instance, the women spiritual leaders. The respect shown to
them is not because they are women but because the society demands that they be
respected for their important roles in divine intervention. The women also show
strong leadership, power and prowess in their work (Okoye 45).
Although the woman is
not the main character in this story, it is clear that she plays a big role and
cannot be ignored when talking about the story. The roles discussed above show
clearly that the woman plays a pivotal role in Educational, Religious and
Social issues.
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