I plan on writing about Things Fall Apart through the feminist lens rather than the postcolonial view because the postcolonial view makes too much sense and is too obvious in my opinion.
On to the point, I will focus a lot of my essay on the problems that the women face in the novel. Obviously the problems with Okonkwo and his wives will be a large part of it, but also the fact that the women are considered property will be prominent in the essay. Women in the Ibo culture are definitely viewed as subservient to men but also subservient individuals for the most part. Furthermore, the characterization of Okonkwo is based off of an antithesis of femininity. I will use the examples where Okonkwo is trying to build himself as a man contrary to his father, Okonkwo thinks that every characteristic that his father embodies is feminine.
Napoleon Bonaparte also shares a similar view of women as Okonkwo and many of the Ibo Culture with his quote from the Feminism article, "Nature intended women to be our slaves...They are our property...What a mad idea to demand equality for women." The article also discusses the fact that the identity of women is constructed by the men in the Ibo society. Likewise in our society today the image and identity of women is largely constructed by the men in the world rather than the women. I would like to address this contemporary issue in my essay as it parallels to the novel.
