Perspective towards women in Things Fall Apart

SITI NOOR AMIRA 

Reflection on Things Fall Apart (Week 2)

•  How are the women treated in the novel? Do all members in the community agree with the status quo? Why? 
• What contributions are made by the Igbo women to the survival of their culture? 
• What are the changes in women’s roles in this present world?

Based on the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, I believe that women had been treated in a balance way. It is not all the women had been treated badly. For example, women play role as the priestess who the villagers consult when they have problems. It is shown when Okonkwo's father consulted Agbala when he wanted to know why he had a misery life. Here we can see that even the villagers lifted the women to be high in status. It is undoubtedly that women does not get the right as they suppose to get. Achebe represents women as has little in power rather than men. They cannot do what men can do and only has to listen the words of men. For instance, when Ojiugo came late to home and did not prepare the food, Okonkwo beat her badly until he forgot that week is Week of Peace which is forbidden for them to beat somebody. I don't think all the community agree with the status quo. It is because some of them even try to deny the status itself. It is because the status does not show the equality between man and woman. 

Even women status is being underestimated, their contribution also can be the same as the men. The woman is the one who teach the children by giving them advice through story telling. For instance, Ekwefi tells her daughter Enzinma the fairy tale entitled Tortoise. She tries to teach her daughter by showing her the consequences or benefits in the action takes. Besides, women also is the priestess that the people will seek if they have any problems. Here, the contribution of the women is they are trying to solve or find the solution for the people. So, we can't deny that there is no contribution of women towards the culture. They also one of the important roles in order to produce a quality generation. 

Nowadays, the stereotype that women should stay at home and looking after the children is cannot be used anymore. We can see that women spend their time by searching or seeking the chances to be in the same level of men. If a man can be an engineer, a woman also can. Even she can be better than man. It is true that the job is focusing on men but it is no wrong if women take the challenge to be the part of it. Besides, the women also can be one part of the bread-winner of the family. It is from the career women. They can help the expenses in home in order to reduce the burden of the husband. Lastly, a lot of women nowadays as succeed as the men. It proves when they even went to higher education. They are free to further their studies and the equality between men and women can be seen through this. 

week 2 question

ATEEQ MEDINA BT MOHD MALIKI

Women in Things Fall Apart

 How are the women treated in the novel? Do all members in the community agree with the status quo? Why?

Woman are inferior in the tribe and men are superior than them. Man can marry up to he could support but woman could not do so. In this aspect,it seems that the society receives it well because there are so many men with titles got to marry women to the sum of twelve. There are so many mistreatment that woman receives including have to take beatings from their husband if they do something wrong. Like what happened to Ekwefi who had been beaten by Okonkwo because of not preparing food to her children and go braid her hair elsewhere. Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye is the one who questioned the custom of his own tribe because he did not understand why such things have to happen.

What contributions are made by the Igbo women to the survival of their culture?

They accept the rule well and never protest it. Although some of them are quite harsh and mean for us nowadays but they still follow it. They obey their husbands, prepare food for the family, accept polygamy and work for their family well. Not even once that the case of woman against their husband arise. It helps to maintain the culture of Igbo tribe eventhough sometimes they are sad because their twin baby that they carried had to be killed because of the custom. They manage to hold it together until the arrival of the commissioner.

What are the changes in women’s roles in this present world?

As we living in the world of globalisation, women role had change drastically as there are women who are the breadwinner in the family instead of men. The term househusband is also relevant in the present world. Women no longer required to stay at home,cook and look after the children. Woman can be as successful as she wanted to be. They can study until the level of their wish and work anywhere they want. Nobody have the right to stop them.

TFA WEEK 2

1. How are the women treated in the novel? Do all members in the community agree with the status quo? Why?

The women in Igbo community have been treated unfairly in this story. The women in this community have no authority to speak their mind and do things they like. For example, one day, when Okonkwo’ youngest wife was not home in time to cook for him lunch, he beat her severely when she reached home. He didn’t listen to his wife explanation before he beat her since she has no right to talk back to her husband. Moreover, Okonkwo once thought about Ezinma, his daughter that, “She should have been a boy.” Okonkwo thought made me realized that the women’s ability in Igbo community has been underestimated. The women only do things if their men allowed them to. As example, Ezinma can only be married when they reached Okonkwo’s motherland since her father said so. Not all of the members of the community seem to be fine with this status quo since they did advised Okonkwo to stop when he beat his wife. It shows that they concern on the status quo but they literally could do nothing to change it because it was one of their cultures.

2. What contributions are made by the Igbo women to the survival of their culture?

The Igbo women contribution for the survival was big even though they had been considered as the weak and low-class. The Igbo women cook for their family, take care of them, tell stories to their children, serve their husband, and do the housework. Each of the elements stated portrayed in Okonkwo’s wives. For example, Okonkwo wives would cook for him and their children each meal. Besides that, Nwoye’s mother told him a story which has moral values and so did Ekwefi to Ezinma.  

3. What are the changes in women’s roles in this present world?

Nowadays women are different from the Igbo’s women. Not totally different but there are some parts that change. It is because nowadays women are no longer considered as weak and low-class. Nowadays, women have their own job for themselves. Moreover, they can speak out their opinions and ideas and they can do things that they want without being restricted unlike the Igbo’s women. Aside from that, nowadays women can choose their own future. They can future their studies and have career. Since I mentioned that nowadays and before women are not totally different, it is because nowadays women do take care of their family and cook for them. Even though they have career, they do things that requires them to like do the housework and else. It just that they have more freedom than the women before. 

By: SITI AMIRA SALLEHUDIN

Women in Things Fall Apart (Week 2)

Rosiah Binti Omar

1. How are the women treated in the novel? Do all members in the community agree with the status quo? Why? 

"Sit like a woman!" Okonkwo shouted at her. Ezinma brought her two legs together and stretched them in front of her”(Chp 5), this quote obviously showed the great power and difference between males and females in an household in an Igbo society. In Things Fall Apart, women considered as a second-class citizens which means that in the society, they are disregarded and voiceless because they believe that women have no right to talk about their own opinion. For example in this novel, women plant maize, beans, and melons meanwhile for the men, they have been given the trust by the society to plant yam. Okonkwo said that “Yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed”. The society treated women as their servant because the job of women in the community is to serve their husband in every way possible, they should cook, doing all the chores and help out in repairing the huts. They also needed to be good storytellers to tell the young children the origin of their life.  For example, Mother tells stories how to behave themselves to attract husbands, serve husbands to win their hearts.

However, not all of the community agree with the status quo. Every women in the society cannot voiced out and express their dissatisfaction. They just do the things that have been order or command by the men. For example, Okonkwo said to his wives "Do what you are told woman". Everything that his wives did were based on a orderly routine constructed by Okonkwo and everybody had to listen to him regardless of whether he was right or wrong.

 2.  What contributions are made by the Igbo women to the survival of their culture? 

Even though women in the society were considered as weak and low-class, their contribution to the survival of their culture was really big. They take care of the children, do all the housework, serve as priestesses, tell the stories to their daughter, and build relationships with other villages. Those are the contributions of women in the Igbo community. For example, Ezinma’s mother, Ekwefi, who tells her daughter the fairy tale about the Tortoise: “Tortoise saw all these preparations and soon discovered what it all meant? That is why Tortoise's shell is not smooth”. Ekwefi told Enzima the stories of Tortoise which has moral value in it that can make her daughter understand about life.

3. What are the changes in women’s roles in this present world?

In this present world, women’s roles in the community are no longer as a servant and have no right to voiced out their opinion. This modern society allows women to voiced out their opinion whether they agree or not and they also have the right to further their studies to the higher level as high as men. Women can have far greater opportunity in social, political, and commercial endeavors rather than the past. For example, in the novel, women only stay at home, raise their children and do all the chores but in this present day, we can see that women also can have a career even though they have children. Nowadays, women are the same level as men. They also can do what men can; women can be a pilot, engineer and army. Women's traditional role as wives and mothers has not disappeared but has been reinvented to fit in with the needs of the society.