1. Consider gender roles in the Igbo community and discuss the status & expectations of women and men / 2. How does the novel meet the author's aim of portraying a pre-colonial Nigeria?

1.

There is a perceivable difference between what is expected of women in the Igbo tribe from what it is expected by men. While the society is centered on the masculine figure, women are secluded to the home and taking care of internal family issues. The Ibo is a polygamous culture, where a man is permitted to live with more than one wife.

The feminine presence is completely eclipsed by the patriarch of the family. Even when the narrator tells us about one of Okonkwo’s wives, she refers to it through him “…asked his second wife…” (p.22) or through the name of his son “…Nwoye’s mother took Ikemefuna…” (p.12) This allows us to appreciate a reification of the figure of women, at least coming from the protagonist’s point of view.

They fulfill the role of developing activities that seem to be exclusive to women, like cooking. While men wrestle and take care of the external ambit, women are in charge of taking care of the younger girls and teach them the household arts. “ ‘Father will you go see the wrestling ? ‘(…) …she said: ‘Can I bring your chair for you?’ ‘No, that is a boy’s job.’” (p.33) The girls are limited to some special jobs and are preferred to do house jobs.

Even if the women are secluded to the home and have a lesser importance in society than men, the culture protects them and their transcendence for the tribe. “ ‘ Your wife was at fault, but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her, you would still have committed a great evil to beat her.’ “ (p.23) The priest of the earth goddess, Ani, defends the position of Okonkwo’s wife  when she had committed a mistake because the community and traditions of the tribe consider that beating a woman is extremely inappropriate and could affect the whole clan. 

Reading Journal: Things Fall Apart , Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of Things Fall Apart presents an omniscient narrator that start to describe the main character of the text, Okonkwo. We learn about his past, how he had beaten he who was said to be the strongest wrestler, unbeaten for seven years, Amalinze the Cat. This allows us to infer and create a vision of who the protagonist is, the power he has and his status quo.

Through the use of an inner description, we learn about Okonkwo’s character and how he reacts to people. “He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists. He had no patience with unsuccessful men.” (p.3) We can conclude though this quote that his close-minded and unstable nature might be a source of problems later on in the story.

There is a contrast shown between the way the protagonist leads his own life and how his own father did. It shows us a flashback, making us realize the importance of Unoka’s (Okonkow’s father) failure in building his own destiny and how that influenced Okonkwo. “He had no patience with his father.” (p.3) His father had died ten years ago and he (Okonkwo) had to build a name for himself.

At the end of the chapter is presents us what might be a future conflict, the appearance of someone called Ikemafuna, who is only mentioned, but it is said that the protagonist had to come and look after him.