Things Fall Apart

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Term Paper Title	Things Fall Apart
# of Words	1074
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.3

Things Fall Apart

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, women of the Ibo
tribe are terribly mistreated, and viewed as weak and
receive little or no respect outside of their role as a mother.
Tradition dictates their role in life. These women are
courageous and obedient. These women are nurturers above
all and they are anything but weak. In the novel Things Fall
Apart, Okonkwo has several wives. He orders them around
like dogs. They are never to question what they are
instructed to do; they are expected to be obedient. We
clearly see this early in the story, when Okonkwo brings
Ikemefuna into his home. Okonkwo tells his senior wife that
Ikemefuna belongs to the tribe and that she is expected to
look after him. She in turn asks him if he will be staying with
them for a long period of time. This sends Okonkwo into a
fury. He snaps at her in a very degrading manner, "Do what
you are told woman. When did you become one of the
ndichie (meaning elders) of Umuofia?"(pg.12) Clearly she
receives no respect. Later in the story we see this woman try
to comfort Ikemefuna. She "mothers" him as if he is one of
her own children. She tries to put him at ease and can almost
instinctively feel how much he misses his own mother.

In keeping with the Ibo view of female nature, the tribe
allows wife beating. Okonkwo beats his youngest wife
one-day because she was visiting with a friend and did not
get home in time to prepare a meal for him. Another one of
his wives tries to cover for her when she is questioned as to
whether or not the youngest wife has fed the children before
she left. Certainly she does this in effort to protect the
youngest wife, knowing full well what she faced. Okonkwo
does not let them down, he beats his youngest wife severely
until he is satisfied. Even in spite of pleas from his other
wives reminding him that it is forbidden to beat your wife
during the Week of Peace. Okonkwo will face
consequences, not for beating another human being, but only
because of his timing. He beats his second wife when she
refers to him as one of those "guns that never shot". When a
severe case of wife beating comes before the egwugwu, he
finds in favor of the wife, but at the end of the trial a man
wonders "why such a trifle should come before the
egwugwu"(pg.83). The husband considers his wife as a
property. He either wants his wife back or his bride price.

The omniscient narrator acknowledges a near-invisibility of
women in T...

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