Essay on Is It Manly Enough

Submitted By Lopezbethany7
Words: 695
Pages: 3
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Bethany Lopez
Ms Simons
English 3-4H
February 25, 2013

Is that Manly enough? The ways of which men affirm their masculinity are unsure and vague. There are fathers that show kindheartedness and love to their sons giving them courageous advice, building them up to be Men of heart, and then there are those that beat their wives, with no emotion, falling apart, causing appalling influences on their sons, creating disastrous traumas in a young boy’s eyes. In Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, articulate many themes from culture and traditions changing to Interpretations of masculinity. Masculinity is one of the main themes that Achebe expresses throughout his book; revealing reasons why the main character, Okonkwo, impair the ones he loves, slowly losing all he had, and to become the thing he most despised. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe gives Okonkwo a very masculine alpha man, the man of his huts. He is a famous wrestler, successful farmer, and one of the tribal leaders of his village. Okonkwo has three wives, and a lot of kids. “Do what you are told woman,’ Okonkwo thundered and stammered.’(Amazon kindle edition) Manliness led to underestimating women in his village, “He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo’s return. And when she returned he beat her very heavily in his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace.”(Amazon kindle edition) After that his first two wives ran out to stop him. For this reason, he habitually beats his wives, even threatening to kill them from time to time. We are told that he does not think about things, and we see him act impulsively and unthinkingly. Yet others who are in no way effeminate do not act in this way. Obierika, unlike Okonkwo, “was a man who thought about things.”( Amazon kindle edition) Masculinity does not need violence in it definition. Obierika never attended the death of Ikemefuna. “Ikemefuna cry, ‘My Father, they have killed me!’ as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak” (Amazon kindle edition) Okonkwo was fond of Ikemefuna; he was building up to be a great man, in Okonkwo’s mind. He hid his emotions from his fond children. After unpleasing the Gods, Okonkwo began to fall apart. It started during the Week of Peace, in the beating of his wife; he was punished for breaking the Peace of Anihad. “He said, ‘my father told me that he had been told that in the past a man who broke the peace was dragged on the ground through the village until he died—“(Amazon kindle edition) Okonkwo was not
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