Masculinity vs. Femininity in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Essay

Masculinity vs. Femininity in Things retrovert Apart If viewed on the surface the story line of Things Fall Apart is a tragedy, but when viewed in a wider perspective it is a story of deeper conflict. The main issue is that the British have come to move over a mission and receive converts. Less evident is the conflict this incursion inserts in the midst of the Ibo and British. The fundamental issue is masculinity versus femininity. By this I inculpate to say that the Ibo be an agrarian people who are a hoary and see any sign of weakness as being slight than desirable. The protagonist in the story, Okonkwo, is the champion of this thought. As what would happen to him seems to happen to the Ibo. When Okonkwo disagrees he is usually correct and the tribe would suffer the same fate and fault versa. In the novel the khi is a powerful spirit that determines a mans lot in life. One such instance is when Okonkwo was disbanded from his home for a Feminine murder Clearl y his personal god or chi was not made for great things. A man could not erect above the destiny of his chi. The saying of his elders was not true---that a man who express yea his ki also affirmed. Here was a man whose Chi said nay despite his birth affirmations. (p. 131) The Chi then is the intimately important aspect of Ibo society. The most compelling argument for conflict between the British colonists and the Ibo lies directly within the tribes Chi. Chi, as stated, is the will of a man. The Ibo are guided by this and believe that they can only rise to the train to which their personal God will allow. (p.131) This being the case the Ibo themselves are bound to rise only as far as their cumulative Chi will allow. If the Chi of the British is strong, eve... ...ung lazy and reliant on the whites. When Okonkwos own son joins the church he must have felt a great sadness that his son was weak in mind, and would become dim by the white culture. Feminine versus ma sculine traits is the controversy in this instance. Okonkwo has reinforced his whole life on the masculinity of the tribe. The masculinity is what helps the tribe survive. Chi as discussed in this novel is the concept most important to apprehensiveness the conflict within. Okonkwos Chi is strong, and immersed the Umuofia in a battle with the British. Further underlying conflict resides in the lack of written law in African society, which led the British to assume they were not civilized, and in a unremitting state of anarchy. These characteristics coupled with an effeminate church led to the tragic block to Okonkwos life, and eventually the Umuofia culture.