There
are many prominent themes in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and while they are all placed for different
purposes, social status is one that touches on several aspects in the novel.
Most significantly, it plays a major role in the development and portrayal of
characters, most notably Okonkwo. Perhaps the most important value to him as a
person is acceptance and approval from his community. From this, we can
recognize the importance of social status and class within the Igbo community
and the novel. Further, social status is reflective of other things within the
community such respect and power.
Power
is of major importance to the Igbo community and this is correlated with social
status. Within the community, gaining titles will increase one’s status and
therefore give them more power. Aside from titles that are achieved through
winning wrestling matches or are bought, wealth had a huge impact on social
status. Men who were successful at planting and harvesting yam were seen as of
higher social status. Further, those of higher status were usually the ones
involved with the decision making, signifying their importance. Therefore, most
members of the community aimed to gain higher social status. There was great
respect for those of higher status and this is reflected in their traditions
such as that of the breaking of the kola nut. There is also great respect for
the elders of the community and this is associated with their social status as
well. Overall, social status was a major part of everyday life and often to
reach higher levels was the goal of most members of the community.
In
terms of Okonkwo, social status can be considered as his obsession, which
ultimately led to his downfall. Throughout the novel, his main goal is to
become of a higher status and gain power. His main fear was to be like his
father, who had a poor social status and was generally regarded as lazy. In
contrast, he aimed to become successful at farming and to be a character of
influence. We know that Okonkwo did many things only in order to gain
acceptance and keep his social status. He often did not believe in these ideas
however accepted them only to maintain his place within the community. This can
be seen when he is expected to make a sacrifice after breaking the week of
peace. Okonkwo obviously did not have much respect for the week of peace to
begin with, however followed his community’s wishes in order to keep their
acceptance. This is reflected again when he leaves to his motherland after
accidently killing a young boy, he is not fully convinced of the punishment
however follows it anyway. In the end, when Okonkwo was seen as someone of
lower status and could not regain his community’s acceptance, he chose to take
his life. This leads us to understand that he felt as though he had reached the
lowest status and found no value for life.
In
conclusion, we can see that social status in the Igbo community is reflective
of power, which is an important aspect to them. It, many regards, shapes their
every day way of life and it’s a crucial aspiration for the people. This is
highly reflected in Okonkwo’s personality, as he values his placement in
society rather favorably.
Hey Farah! Great blog post!
ReplyDeleteI especially liked your analysis of how Okonkwo went with the local tradition and laws, even though he didn't entirely accept them. However, do you believe that Okonkwo's priorities changed when he was raising Ikemefuna as his own chid? Do you think that his priority then was still only social status, or was it something different?
Hey Farah! Great blog post!
ReplyDeleteI especially liked your analysis of how Okonkwo went with the local tradition and laws, even though he didn't entirely accept them. However, do you believe that Okonkwo's priorities changed when he was raising Ikemefuna as his own chid? Do you think that his priority then was still only social status, or was it something different?
I really like your insight on power and Okonkwo! I think that this analysis also reflects that obsession of any sort is self harming and this is applicable to the current world we live in. Do you think that Okonkwo's family background shaped his character or do you think that Okonkwo's father was just an excuse to trigger the making of his personality and everything that followed on was self created and influenced by himself solely?
ReplyDeleteExcellent and organized post Farah! I like the way you mentioned that although he didn't fully agree with his culture's traditions such as the punishment he received and the week of peace, he still accepted them to gain acceptance. Do you think that Okonkwo's obsession with being the polar opposite of his dad was his only drive in gaining a particular social status and therefore leading to his downfall?
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph was very insightful because it related Okwonko and his flaws to social status in the novel. I especially liked your analysis of how power and wealth contribute to social status. How do you think women gain social status? Can they ever be as socially powerful as men?
ReplyDelete