Morality, Conduct & Masculinity in Achebe's "Things Fall Apart"

            In Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart there is a contrast between Okonkwo and his father, Unoka. Unoka is a character described as having “no title at all and…heavily in debt”(8). He is further depicted as “lazy and improvident…and he owed every neighbor some money”(4). This type of character is looked down upon in Ibo culture in the village of Umuofia. In stark contrast, Okonkwo detests his father and his effeminate qualities. For instance, the narrator claims that Okonkwo was “dominated by fear…of failure and of weakness”(13). Moreover Okonkwo fears that he may “be found to resemble his father”(13). Additionally, these are traits of the “loafer”(5) or more explicitly, his father.

            The Ibo culture is anchored in superstitious beliefs, showing reverence to gods of fertility and the like, as well as obtaining a title and being masculine and blood thirsty rather than being an “agbala”(13), which means either a woman or “a man who had taken no title”(13). Achebe’s description of the “earth goddess, Ani”(30) and the notion that she is the “goddess of fertility”(36) and “the ultimate judge of morality and conduct”(36) truly brings to the surface the idea that the Ibo culture is one that is reliant on the fertility of the soil whether it be for planting Yams or for burying their dead. Furthermore, there seems to be a connection with “morality” and the fate of an individual.

            Unoko was a reverent man. When he made a trip to consult the “Oracle of the Hills”(16), the priestess named Chika had told him, “You have offended neither the gods nor your fathers”(17). However, Unoko did not a very strong hand when it came to farming. In stark contrast, Okonkwo, in his state of being “possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life”(18) had committed several abominations. Firstly, he treats other men as if they are inferior to him in Chapter 4 when he comments to another man during a meeting, “This meeting is for men”(27). This mirrors our protagonist’s inability to be humane to other human beings. Secondly, as Achebe illustrates, “[Okonkwo] treated everybody else—with a heavy hand”(28). One example occurs during the “Week of Peace” in which “he beat [Ojiugo] very heavily”(29) because she was away from the compound going to “plait her hair”(29). According to Okonkwo’s neighbors, Okonkwo “has no respect for [the] gods and ancestors”(30) and he had “committed a great evil.” Finally, when the village of Umofia “decided to kill”(57) Ikemefuna, Okonkwo was told by the elder, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, “The boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death”(57). Okonkwo does indeed kill Ikemefuna because “he was afraid of being thought weak”(61). In doing so he had committed the type of act “for which the goddess wipes out whole families”(67).

            So what is at stake here in a village like Umofia when it concerns issues of morality and conduct? As readers, do we sympathize with Okonkwo and perhaps view his actions as righteous? Finally, in comparing Okonkwo with his father, who do you believe embodies the most “masculine” qualities?