Things_Fall_Apart_by_Chinua_Achebe_Theme_Essay

What is the first thing you notice when your first meet someone' Could it be their hair, their stride, or the way they dress' Although even if you look past outwardly appearances and first impressions, judgment and prejudice will always make its way through. How you are acknowledged within society is paramount in Umuofia, the protagonist’s home village in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Because of this importance of how you are perceived within society, Okonkwo is pressured into completely shaping his attitude and exterior in order to accomplish the appearance he strives for. The importance of appearance within society is significant within the novel and is achieved by the themes of perseverance in order to achieve the social appearance that one wants, the treatment of women in order to raise a man’s respect from his family, and the idea that the amount physical materials represent wealth. Perseverance and determination constantly drives Okonkwo throughout the novel for his will to achieve the appearance he strives for. His sole goal in life was accomplishing to be everything his father wasn’t in order to become successful and to be perceived differently. Despite the infamous reputation of his father, Unoka, Okonkwo tries his best to persevere and work hard in order to earn the respect he yearns for. In the process he lost all sense of sympathy, kindness, and will to put aside time for leisure due to the fact that his father contained those characteristics. Everything his father has done, he looks down upon and makes an endeavor to be the exact opposite. He also works hard in order to maintain that reputation within the household and in the village by even making his wives and children fear him in order to gain respect. Thus, the theme of perseverance is represented throughout the story as Okonkwo carries forth his efforts in establishing a status that is completely separate and opposite than that of his father’s reputation. The treatment of women is yet another theme that supports the significance of appearance and status within society. When Okonkwo was appointed to house and care for Ikemefuna, he merely passed over the job to one of his wives with taking neither inquiries nor consent. It is also mentioned in the novel that Okonkwo’s wives and children could hear him breathing at night, symbolizing their weariness of his presence and therefore resulting in their fear towards him. Women were considered property within the village, and the more wives one had, the wealthier that man was perceived to be. Women were treated as objects of possession and showed complete submission to men. Their social standing was low and equivalent to barns or the amount of land owned. No woman was treated as an individual since wealth was based on the amount of wives one had rather than the individual aspects of who your wife was. This led to the fear of men in the household and in society in general. Fear in this case, was used as terms of respect. Having the role of men above women put the man’s authority higher and showed that if he could be respected and dominate over his wife then he was an overall respectable person with leader-like attributes. This brought men up socially in Umuofia’s patriarchal society and promoted the males’ appearance amongst society. The importance of how much property a man has was also prominent in order to be respected in Umuofia. When Onkonkwo went out to ask Nwakibie – who is described as a wealthy man with three huge barns, nine wives, and thirty children – for some yam seeds, status was clearly based on how much property one owned which was signified by the elaborateness of the gathering that was taken place. Wealth is seen in the ownership of property and is equivalent to higher status and respect. For example, Unoka’s respect form the rest of the village was diminutive due to him not being as productive or diligent as he could be, therefore he could never yield a substantial amount of food. Nevertheless, without hard work, property is useless. Unlike his father, Okonkwo possessed an attribute that showed that he was a reliable and thorough worker in Nwakibie’s eyes. As a result he gave Okonkwo the yam seeds needed in order to produce food for more wives and children, and eventually yield enough to stock up on a barn that will further legitimize his social standing within the village. This ownership of property will go towards his goal in being a respected, high standing man within his society. The prominent main ideal of the novel Things Fall Apart is therefore the importance of appearance in society which is displayed by Okonkwo’s aspirations to develop a reputation that is completely dependent than that of his father’s. In order to achieve this, he must persevere in his actions, put himself above those in society who are seen as subordinate – such as women, and work hard in order to earn the property and material wealth necessary in order to gain respect from the rest of society.