Things Fall Apart 4

Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" presents its readers with an African tribe and its culture. Okonkwo, a well-respected member of the tribe, has some very interesting attributes. Specifically, he has an undying desire to be manly at all times complimented by a deeply rooted fear of being thought of as weak. Okonkwo has a very short, violent temper that is immediately triggered in response to actions that he deems to be weak. Okonkwo basically lived …

…his constantly flared temper, which was a result of a fear of being considered weak, or womanly. It was this temper that was constantly bringing problems to Okonkwo and others around him. In the end, Okonkwo could fight no more and had to take his own life. I believe that Achebe purposefully arranged the novel in this manner in order to convey that being manly is not as important as some believe it to be.