Women, Time, and Superstition in Things Fall Apart
Women, Time, and Superstition in *Things Fall Apart*
The Role of Women
In Things Fall Apart, the role of women is undervalued in relation to the role of men. They have no voice and are considered part of a man’s assets. Women are seen more than heard. They cook, take care of the family, educate children, scrub the huts, and sometimes work under the supervision of men. They receive orders from their husbands and endure various forms of violence. For example, Okonkwo thunders at his wife, “‘Do what you are told, woman,’… ‘When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?'” When Okonkwo is punished for beating his wife, it is not for the act itself, but because it occurred during the Week of Peace. Throughout the novel, feminine discrimination is noticeable. Everything strong is masculine, and everything feminine is weak.
Time Perception
Currently, we manage time through watches, so time determines events. In Things Fall Apart, it is quite the opposite: events determine time. As the Igbo live connected to nature, the seasons (rainy season to plant seeds and dry season to rest) are one of the methods to keep track of time. For example: “When the land had been moistened by two or three heavy rains, Okonkwo and his family went to the farmland [and] planting began.” The moon is another method. For us, it symbolizes night-time; for them, one moon is one month: “The two or three moons after the harvest.”
The cockcrow symbolized the morning, and chickens symbolized the night because when they went to roost, it meant that was the end of the day: “…constant attention from cock-crow till the chickens went back to roost.” Market weeks were also used to assign temporal facts: “They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets…” The book itself doesn’t have a precise time.
The Supernatural
The supernatural is present in the daily life of the Igbo people. For example, in Umuofia, there is the appearance of the locusts: “The elders said locusts came once in a generation, reappeared every year for seven years and then disappeared for another lifetime. They went back to their caves in a distant land, where they were guarded by a race of stunted men. And then after another lifetime these men opened the caves again and the locusts came to Umuofia.”
They consult the oracle for matters of war or economic benefits: “…With this magic fan she beckons to the market all the neighboring clans.” The Igbo also have several superstitions: “A snake was never called by its name at night, because it would hear. It was called a string.”
Myths and Legends
Myths can be easily confused with tales. We have two main myths in *Things Fall Apart*. The first is the cosmic conflict between the sky and earth. In the novel, this myth was told by Nwoye’s mother to Nwoye, and symbolizes the conflicted relation between Okonkwo (strong men) and his son (“feminine” men) in comparison with the earth (woman) and sky (man) that have different personalities.
The locusts appear after long years, and the meaning will only be understood later: “The elders said locusts came once in a generation, reappeared every year for seven years and then disappeared for another lifetime. They went back to their caves in a distant land, where they were guarded by a race of stunted men. And then after another lifetime these men opened the caves again and the locusts came to Umuofia.”
Achebe’s Use of Language
Chinua Achebe, in Things Fall Apart, uses the English language but gives it an African oral “flavor” (notion of Palimpsest), incorporating Igbo words (such as “chi” or “egwugwu”), proverbs, and tales. For instance, “Among the Igbo, the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.” The duration of the orality, onomatopoeia, and repetition are also important in Achebe’s Africanism: “Gome, gome, gome, gome, boomed the hollow metal,” and “…welcoming it back from its long, long journey…”