Womanhood
in Igbo cosmology: Intersections in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart
Introduction:
This
is an essay on womanhood in Igbo cosmology as it connects with Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.1 Focus is on
the idea of the female-person2 in the spiritual and material life of
the Igbo as well as in the novel. Achebe has been accused of minimizing the
place of women in his novel through an androcentric portrayal of marriage as
enslavement of women and exploitation of their labor. Mezu sees the world of
the novel as one “where the man is everything and the woman nothing” because
they are considered as part of the man’s property along with barns and social
titles (Mezu 1995: 21), and Strong-Leek
perceives it as one where women have no sanctuary either in their homes or in
their husbands’ arms (Strong-Leek 2001). Indeed the wives of the central
character, Okonkwo, are abused, beaten and intimidated by their husband, who
derides women as weak. Achebe’s main fictional premise is based on this
patriarchal man whose female hatred bothers on psychosis developed from his
childhood hatred for his father who was regarded as agbala, a woman, in the sense of not meeting the masculine
expectation of being a provider. Our discussion of cosmology in this essay will
reveal that the fictional portrayal of women in the novel is just what it is:
fiction, because it is reflected reality and not reality. We shall see that in actuality,
Igbo womanhood is a complex category that derives a lot of its significance
from the spiritual and physical dimension of the cosmos, and that the androcentric
depiction of womanhood in the novel is largely influenced by the exaggerated
masculinity of the hero that ultimately is faulted by the novelist for his
overt and self-destructive machismo. His whole life is “dominated by fear,
the fear of failure and of weakness” that lies “deep within his soul” (13) and
motivates his overt show of male bravado. This kind of bravado in African men
has been linked to fear of female control (Awason
2005), and a front for masking anxiety about the real self. Real self has both
male and female principles but part of the motivation for male bravado aims at
hiding the female one and putting on the guise of masculinity.
A
discussion of womanhood necessarily touches on manhood because they operate
like complementary, opposing, equal and unequal pairs in cosmological thinking
of the people. Moreover the discussion of womanhood in Things is mediated by two important male pressures. One is the use
of a patriarchal man as the hero, Okonkwo. The other is the male lens of the
omniscient narrator. The use of a male person as the central character facilitates
the presentation of the fictional world through male lens. The hero, Okonkwo,
is represented as a household head, achiever, and a lord with an enviable
position, but the author is also able to illustrate the downside of the hero’s character
through his disdain for the female principle. The contempt for women constitutes
a flaw that pilots the hero to a devastating tragedy where he not only dies
ignobly but is refused the wholesome embrace of the earth goddess regarded as
the prime female principle in the tradition. This is a rejection that no woman
in the novel encounters and which puts Okonkwo at the bottom level where it would
be insulting to compare his end with that of the lowliest woman or man in the
patriarchal world of the novel.
Despite
the charge of the narrator’s androcentric view of the fictional Umuofia, it is
important to point out that the narrator does not project it as the only kind
of community because of the references to contrary examples as in the case of Aninta
where titled men do domestic chores (73) and other communities where women own
the children. This is a realistic portrayal of Igboland or Africa that is not
one community with one system or social organization. There are groups with
matriarchal inclinations such the matrilineal Afikpo-Igbo and Ohafia-Igbo. Such
communities and ethnic groups are also found in the Niger-Benue and Niger-Delta
regions of Nigeria as well as countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast, Congo, South
Africa, and many other parts of the African continent. It is not surprising
that different areas of pre-colonial and postcolonial Igboland had and have
structures of female assertiveness (Sofola 1998, Davis 1986: 242),
complementality with men (Nnaemeka 2003), rights that surpass those of Western
women (Leith-Ross 1939: 230-233) as well as areas of female subjugation (Okeke
2006: 26, Achufusi 1994: 173). Igbo women were kings and warriors (Achebe 2005,
Okonjo 1976), titled “Lords” and power brokers (Chuku 2005, Jeffreys 1951), but
often misrepresented in reports that are tainted by preconceived views of
women’s powerlessness. Adimora-Ezeigbo (1990) discusses the case of Basden
whose long sojourn in Igboland did not erase his preconceived notions of female
inferiority fortified by his association with Igbo male authority. However, a
consideration of aspects of Igbo cosmology especially its connection with
gender across communities will clarify the place of women in Igbo thinking and
also inform Achebe’s portrayal of womanhood in Things as we discuss the gender of God, female gods and priests,
the earth goddess and nurturing, omumu
theory of begetting, and woman as daughter and mother.
The
gender of God
We
shall begin this section by using the name of the author of Things Fall Apart as a springboard for
delving into the concept of Chi and Chukwu. Chinua in Chinua-Achebe is a short
form of Chinualumogu (Chi, fight for me). Like many Igbo theophoric personal
names such as Chukwudi (God exists), Chukwuma (God knows), AmaraChi (God's
Grace), Ogechukwu (God’s time) and many others, Chinualumogu is a short prayer
that is based on belief in God and the superiority of the spiritual force. God
is denoted by the Igbo word “Chukwu” that translates as Big/Great Spirit and regarded
as the creator of all, hence the synonym, “Chineke,” which means “the Spirit that
creates.” Chukwu was not originally gendered in Igbo language but the
imposition of Christian categorization of God as male as well as the rendering
of a non-gendered category in the gendered English language might have influenced
the interpretation of Chukwu as male. The privileging of male power in the Victorian
culture of British Colonial rulers in Nigeria as well as the elevated status of
maleness in Christian religion might have influenced the translation of Igbo
religious culture and concepts. Similar
trends have been cited by Okonjo (1976), and Sofola (1998) in their discussion of the marginalization and
erasure of the Omu, seat of female simultaneous rulership with a male Obi, in western
Igbo areas and the strengthening of male privileging by colonial powers that
favored Victorian patriarchy.
Igbo
and African religions were disregarded by colonial authority and great effort
was made to destroy them, on the pretext of any misconduct by a priest or priests,
rather than attempt at correction or punishment. The wanton destruction of
shrines and traditional museums notoriously called Igbu mmuo or “killing of the spirits” (Amankulor and Okafor 1988) was
common in the early colonial period in Igboland. Archival records indicate letters
concerning the proposed destruction of the shrines, the quality of ritual
objects, and their value for British museums.3 All these were part
of the effort to destroy African culture and impose the culture of the
conquerors; a tendency that was enforced through British education. What Robin
Horton regards as the “devout approach” (2008: 169), whereby researchers who
are influenced by the Christian education and religion bring such influence
into their study of African religion, dominates current research on African
spirituality. Seeking commonalities with the British was a way that the
colonized used to show their equality and reestablish their damaged dignity,
but this has had its toll on the Anglicization of aspects of African culture. Agbasiere
refers to this tendency in her critique of equating the Igbo Chi to Christian
guardian angel and even though she does not totally dismiss the comparison, she
insists that it derives “from Judaeo-Christian or Graeco-Roman categories of
supernatural beings” that is not based on the study of Igbo context (Agbasiere 2000:
54).
During
my field work in Arochukwu in 1983, my questions about the gender of God were
overlooked or politely ignored by informants but my field-representative, John
Aghabanti, later explained that it was not very respectful to think of God in
human terms. The use of the Igbo gender neutral pronoun “o” made it easy for
him to talk about God without implying any gender. In 1991, during my field work in Izzi, I
tried to use indirection to get at the people’s notion of the gender of God. I
began with questions about the gender of the mask-spirit that was enacted by
the women and was bluntly told by the woman impersonator that “It is not a
woman or a man;” but a spirit. The Chi concept would have assumed masculinity
if not that it was initially equated to the Christian guardian angel that is open
to all genders. In spite of this, scholars have tended to evoke masculinity in
their explanation of the idea in English by using masculine nouns and pronouns
that may arguably represent the generic man, but their use can nonetheless be misleading
for non-insiders of the culture. Such references to Chi as the “divine particle
in man by which he shares in the Supreme Being” (Ilogu 1974: 45) and "inner man” (Idowu 1976:87)
tend to connote maleness even if it is not the intention of the writers who are
constrained by lack of gender neutral pronouns in the English language. The
Igbo believe that every individual has the chi
essence that connects with the Ultimate Spirit. Chi, therefore, includes all in
a common spiritual field and also equalizes through a common linkage to the
Ultimate Spiritual Essence. The word chi
denotes the guiding essence, spirit, energy; and vector of providence.
According to Ikenga-Metuh,
Every event in man’s life, whether it be
success or failure, is “Onatara chi” – destiny imprinted on his palm. Chi whether it be personal god, or
personal destiny, finally derives from Chukwu – God … Chi could in fact be said
to be the Igbo expression of God’s providential care for each individual
person. Chi is God’s own representative in man … However, man can pray to his
chi at any time to give him only good fortunes, or to withhold misfortune (Ikenga-Metuh
1982: 18).
The
above delineation of Chi shows that the
writer used “man” in generic terms to denote the Igbo word mmadu (person) and might not necessarily have intended to exclude
women through the use. It is, therefore, important to clarify the presence of
the Chi essence in every human being
regardless of gender, class and other dichotomies because it is the divine
quintessence from God’s essence as Chi-ukwu (Big/Great God). The godly essence
is invested on humans at creation and performs functions that are comparable though
not analogous to the Christian guardian angel. Cardinal Arinze describes it as
the spiritual-double of divine essence that God invests on every sentient being
(Arinze 1970). It is the most powerful personal concept and driving force with achievement,
guardian, and guiding principles. Malevolent spirits can weave misfortune so an
individual constantly works with Chi to ensure success. The idea permeates the
practices, roles, behavior and all aspects of Igbo system. It is expected to
keep an individual on the right path where s/he reveres not just the Ultimate Spirit
but human and other living things created by God.
There
is constant communion with Chi through very short prayers that sometimes occur
several times a day. There is also elaborate veneration at the shrine of Chi
usually marked by the oha tree, whose
leaves constitute the main substance of a special soup. In some areas such as
among the Aro,4 the shrine of Chi is marked by the ogirinsi tree whose leaves have special
medicinal qualities and are used for ritual purposes. There are communal
ceremonies and festivals that focus on Chi. Called Ime-Chi during the Ikeji
festival of the Aro, Ogugo Chi in the Ezeagu clan in the northern Igbo, and Ilo
Chi in Awka‑Etiti and parts of Anambra, veneration of Chi is central in Igbo
worship system, because it is the individual’s immediate link to God.
Women take the veneration of Chi to heart
because of gender subordination particularly when separated from their natal
families and ancestral worship. The patri-local arrangement of many Igbo
communities requires women to leave their natal homes at marriage to live in
their husband’s houses or family’s households where they have little or no
connection with the husband’s family’s ancestral spirits that are called upon
in family prayers. In Things, Okonkwo
officiates at the family shrine where he keeps “the wooden symbols of his
personal god and of his ancestral spirits” and offers prayers to them “on
behalf of himself, his three wives and eight children” (14). In situations as
reflected in the novel, the women have spiritual recourse through their Chi even
though they may partake of the family prayers. Women’s personal sprits facilitate
their engagement of daily problems. It is common to hear women refer to
Chineke-umunwanyi (God of women, God who created women or God who is special to
women) in discussing their luck or misfortune. Prayer to the godly essence is
important in feelings of subordination because of God’s compassion and
inclusiveness of all in the godly fold. This is an equalizing and empowering
concept that cancels class, gender and other barriers created by society. It
enables a poor person or a woman to look at the rich man, challenge him and affirm
“Ibughi Chi m” (You are not my God), which
implies that both have equal claim to God and that the agency of Chi can avert
any impending misfortune concocted by the powerful and can also reverse earthly
fortunes. Chi is the basis of Igbo confidence and drive. This is reflected in Things through the affirmation of the
boy from very poor background who “said yes very strongly; so his chi agreed”
(27), and helped him to surpass his poor class situation. When the powerful Okonkwo shot at his wife,
Ekwefi, her survival was attributed to the vigilance of her Chi as the
priestess said: “Your chi is very much awake …” (48).
Female
gods and priests
There
are Nigerian and African nations and communities with female Supreme Spirits.
Awomekaso is the national goddess of Kalabari people (Nigeria) that helped the
principality of Elem Kalabari to extend its suzerainty over about twenty three
neighboring towns. The influence of the goddess facilitated the peaceful
expansion of Kalabari through cultural and religious affiliations rather than
warfare (Gabriel 1999: 35), which was the main path of the male gods of war. In
the Delta region (Nigeria), the Supreme Deity and creator of Ogoni people is
Waa Bari that is regarded as female. Her role and position stems from
traditional thinking about creativity and motherhood. According to Paul Bedey,
… the Ogoni people have the implicit
belief that this female creator resides in the earth and that man and all
animals and plants are created out of the earth. All libations and incarnation
to Waa Bari are poured on the earth and it is believed she receives it as the
wine or water sinks down into the earth. The dead are buried in the earth to
return to Waa Bari Ogoni from where they come. It is clear in the traditional
belief of the people that Waa Bari Ogoni is omnipotent and omniscient (84).
Unlike
the Ogoni, many Igbo sub-groups did not gender God. The non-gendered nature of
God, however, does not exclude the institution of patriarchal gender power in Igbo
societies, but it explains the empowerment of women in spiritual practices; a
situation that has been noted in other African societies (Kilson 1976). In Igboland, women and men function as priests, mediums,
oracles and other agents of the supernatural. They therefore have authority in
spiritual matters and this is linked to their non-gendered spiritual endowment
from God unlike many other world religions where priesthood is strictly
reserved for men. Spiritual signs from possession, prediction, reincarnation, dreams,
and fortune-telling usually indicate the one chosen for sacred orders. That
person then goes into training to learn the character of the divinity, its
relation and particular servitude to God, as well as the laws, taboos,
dances, and songs that go with performance of functions that include offering of
prayers and sacrifices. Allied to the profession of priesthood is that of
divination and mediumship where women excel in varied functions as revealers,
fortune-tellers, and counselors. Compared to some other religions, women are
not marginalized in traditional African religions and professions. Anti sums this up when he says that:
The Jews had a rigid masculine concept
of God who was the 'God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob', but not the God of Sarah,
Rebecca, and Rachael … In Islam, women could only lead prayers for a
congregation of women. And in the mosque women are not to stand in the
same row with the men but separately behind the rows of men. The situation is,
however, not the same in Africa (Anti 2009).
From
elevated positions in traditional religions, women encountered a dilemma in
Islamic and Christian religions that were introduced to African societies,
because they lost their preeminence as priests of the gods in religions that
reserve priesthood for men only. Diop (1989) maintains that the Islamic
incursion into Africa initiated cultural changes that were exacerbated by
European colonialism and imperialism. The elevated position of African women
through traditional religion is depicted in Things
through the engagement of two priestesses of the Oracle. Our first glimpse of a
priestess in the novel was at the visit of Okonkwo’s father to the oracle,
Agbala, for consultation about his unending poverty. The priestess, Chika, admonished him with
great authority as she delivered the verdict, “You have offended neither the
gods nor your fathers … go home and work like a man!” (17-18). The next
priestess we encounter is Chielo of Okonkwo’s generation. The author describes
her as an ordinary person; a widow with two children and a woman that shares a market
shed with Ekwefi. In the world of the novel particularly from the perspective
of the central character, Okonkwo, Chielo’s female gender would have made her
inferior to him. However, based on the principle of God’s connection to all irrespective of human
dichotomies like gender, Chielo is the one chosen as the voice of the oracle; an
elevated spiritual position.
The
oracle of the hills and caves is delineated as male, but the human power that drives
it and proclaims its wishes is female. Chielo’s spiritual power makes her
superior to Okonkwo in her role as the priestess who deciphers and enforces the
will of the unseen divine essence of the hills and caves. This is illustrated when she comes to
Okonkwo’s house to take away his favorite daughter, Ezinma. Okonkwo does not react
in his usual overbearing manner towards women. He pleads with her, but she responds
with godly authority as she evokes her power as the servant of the god and cows
him to silence: “Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!” (101). Her
treatment of Okonkwo is harsh and echoes Okonkwo’s rough treatment of women. One
can read her disdain for Okonkwo who in the past has shown disrespect for the
earth goddess through his rash actions such as shooting at his wife and violence
during the peace week (30). Her treatment of Ekwefi, Okonkwo’s wife and
Ezinma’s mother, is different. She has a brief dialogue with Ekwefi,
understands her anxiety as a mother and tries to assuage her fears by
addressing Ezinma as her own daughter: “Come, my daughter … I shall carry you
on my back. A baby on its mother’s back does not know that the way is long”
(101).
The
Earth goddess and omumu
Another
important aspect of Igbo cosmology that connotes womanhood is Ani, the earth
goddess. This is expressed in male personal names such as Nwale (child of the
land), Ani-kwere (the land agrees) and Aniamalu (the land knows) as well as female
names like Ana-ezi (bare earth) and Animma (beautiful earth). These names
allude to the omnipresence, omniscience, strength and beauty of Ani. The use of
Ani in both male and female names indicates some kind of neutrality, yet many
communities conceive of Ani as a female spirit because of its nurturing aspects
that coincide with traditional ideas of female fecundity, birthing, and
creativity. From the physical earth, Ani is conceived of as the mother of human
beings, food crops, trees, hills, caves, rivers and other things that stand on
it. She is higher than other spirits such as the hills and streams because she
is the mother of all. The mothering quality of Ani is used to build a huge
ideology of reverence that permeates the conduct of the society. Like a mother,
she is the nurturer, the regulator of codes of conduct of her children, and the
enforcer of the laws though sanctions. Ilogu itemizes over twenty prohibitions
or nso-ala in the moral and social
codes of Ani (Ilogu 1974:38). The belief
that nobody can hide an offence because of the omnipresence of the earth controls
social behavior. The influence of Ani permeates the world of Things where she is portrayed as the
goddess that is responsible for public morality, homicide, kidnapping,
violence and many other crimes and offences. Iwe argues that any serious
research on the foundations and principles of Igbo ethics must be based on the
Igbo philosophy and theology of the earth goddess (Iwe 1988). He anchors his
argument on the centrality of the goddess in the regulation of conduct and her
superiority to other deities:
"One divinity, however, was beyond the
capriciousness of Igbo men: that divinity is neither Igwe, nor even Chukwu, but
Ala, the goddess of the earth. She was the one deity which no man or woman and
no community could afford to offend, much less discard. If ever there was a
supreme god among the Igbo it was Ala. A crisis in our institutions has
obscured this fact “ (Iwe 1988).
Achebe’s
portrayal of Okonkwo’s encounter with the earth goddess principle seems to
concur with Iwe’s idea above. We may applaud Okonkwo’s rejection of weakness
but his equation of that quality with women is unreasonable when he has strong
wives that are largely responsible for his wealth and the running of his
household. His fixation on exaggerated masculinity to the extent of showing
disdain for womanhood is ill-conceived and even naïve for a lord of Umuofia who
should understand the principle of omumu and reverence for the goddess as his
contemporaries Ogbuefi Ezeudu and Obierika do. Conflict is unavoidable in human
affairs, so the Igbo has a sacred week dedicated to Ani when altercation is not
tolerated just as the Christians have a holy week before Easter replete with
reconciliation and spiritual upliftment. Growing up, every child knows the
severity of telling lies and can always ascertain his or her innocence by
touching the earth and swearing by her. Okonkwo grew up in an Igbo community,
albeit fictional, and should know the laws of Ani as well as the repercussions
for contravening the moral codes of the sacred week. For him to show anger and go to the extent of beating
someone is an offence against the earth goddess and more so when that person is
a woman and mother that fully signifies omumu,
in addition to being his wife.
Omumu is the principle of fecundity, begetting, and creativity. It
is a life-giving essence that is also associated with the earth goddess
concept. The ideology derives from gynecology and connects with diverse ideas
evoked by the presence, being, sexuality, performance and function of a female-person
and motherbeig. It permeates social psychology and inspires human action. It is
the most important principle because of its function in continuity, nurturing,
birth and death rites as well as connection with the supreme mother, earth. The
ideology influences Chiweizu’s idea of the womb as the seat of female power
used to control men’s access to food, sex, and continuity (Chiweizu 1990: 171).
Chiweizu does not articulate the enabling stance of the motherbeing that
indulges the childbeing, so his thesis appears to nullify the feminist agenda
as articulated by Ozumba (Ozumba 2005). Ironically, Chiweizu’s notion unintentionally
calls attention to the predicament of women, which Okonjo and Amadiume have
tried to engage in their work on colonial and postcolonial transformations (Amadiume 2000, Okonjo 1976). Women are
subordinated in contemporary Igbo and Nigeria affairs, and Nigeria continues to
decline in world affairs for varied complex reasons, but the abuse of omumu through exaggerated negative
masculinity and its negative effect on development is an issue that has not
been addressed, but which is reflected in Things
though Okonkwo’s tragedy.
Okonkwo is a performer of masculinity who suppresses the
female principle. His
neurotic need to demonstrate continually his narrow conception of masculinity
is not shared by other male characters such as Obierika and Ezeudu that
criticize him for his lack of respect for the principle of omumu. He goes against the advice of the great lord of the land,
Ogbuefi Ezeudu, by killing his foster son, Ikemefuna, in order to prove his
bravery since he is “afraid of being thought weak” (61). He thereby commits a
crime for which “the earth goddess wipes out whole families” (67). Okonkwo and his first wife have fostered
Ikemefuna and Okonkwo loves him and takes him along to communal meetings “like
a son, carrying his stool and his goat-skin bag” (28). This loving relationship
is nurtured and cemented in the usokwu5
of Okonkwo’s wife. Regarded as the surrounding of the heath, usokwu is the site of his primary
bonding with other children while eating, joking, playing, and enjoying
mother’s stories. Usokwu bonding is
the most reliable kin connection and it is based on the mothering culture. It
is so important that it is simulated where physical women are absent as in men’s
masking cults where omumu is
represented through a physical or abstract connection of the female essence
such as ascribing the origin of the mask cult to a mother, invoking the mother
essence in its inauguration, and incarnating a mother figure in mask-form
(Okafor 1992). In Things, the omumu essence is reflected through oral
saga that attributes the birth of the mask-spirits of ancestors to the earth goddess
(88). At the funeral rites of passage ushering to earth the same Ezeudu who advised
Okonkwo not to have a hand in killing Ikemefuna because “He calls you his
father” (57), while the earth sends out ancestral spirits (represented in the
mask-figures) to welcome him back to her bosom, Okonkwo is rejected by the
earth. He inadvertently kills the dead man’s son thereby committing a female ochu or manslaughter regarded as
a serious offence against the earth goddess for which he is banished for seven
years in accordance with the laws of the goddess.
Woman
as daughter and mother
The
gender hierarchy implied in the Western construction of woman (Eve) from man
(Adam) is semantically encoded in the word “woman” comprising of “wo,” which
has no identity without the base “man” that has an independent identity. On the
contrary, the Igbo terms for woman
(nwanyi) and man (nwoke) have a common base, nwa, (child). The suffixes anyi and oke denote their biological differentiation while the base denotes
commonality and equality just as the spiritual concept of chi does. In addition to this equality, the concept of omumu and its connection with the
goddess principle give preeminence to the female in the tradition, but this
superiority is mediated by patriarchal construction of the female as something
that should be controlled. The basis of this thinking lies in the mystery of
woman denoted in the term anyi. Anyi connotes nwa-nyiri-anyi, which refers to a child that is impossible or
unworkable. It implies a problem that should be solved and the process of
solution has given rise to varied arrangements that support female valuation and
devaluation. This is similar to the Mandinka (Gambia and Senegal) belief that
women are born with “immense creativity and energy” and are “unpredictable and mystically
very hot, while men were stable and cool” (Weil 1998: 2). They therefore think
that it is important to socialize women to become gentle like men. The Yoruba
of Nigeria also believe in women’s magical power that Gelede maskers try to
appease and celebrate (Abiodun 1976:1‑2). According to Gelede elders, “Women
posses the secret of life itself, the knowledge and special power to bring
human beings into the world and remove them” (Drewal and Drewal 1983: 8); this
is their reason for trying to appease and negotiate female power through the
mask ritual.
The
Igbo woman has freedom and power that is her right from her Chi and enjoyed in
her natal home, but a lot of this power is mediated during her relocation to a
marital abode where she is faced with problems of adaptation and submission to
new ways of her marital family. This is a situation that her husband does not
face because he already understands his family’s ways that he was nurtured in. In
the novel, Achebe depicts womanhood that is enjoyable especially in the early
years when a daughter is in her parental home without the constraints and
demands of married life as seen from the relative independence of Ezinma and
Obiageli; a freedom that is not allowed the boy, Nwoye, who is constrained by
demands of becoming masculine. His humane, gentle and compassionate nature is ridiculed
by his father who genders him to become masculine and this puts so much
pressure on the boy that he eventually runs to the Christian mission. Unlike
the son, Ezinma’s feminine and masculine principles are encouraged to develop.
She has some of her father’s temperament but hers shows up in rare moments when
she snaps at everyone “like an angry dog” (173). Okonkwo continually wishes
that “she were a boy” (173), because of her intelligence, perception, and quickness
that he regards as masculine traits. In spite of their father’s domineering stance,
the girls have liberties with him; they can correct, console, and admonish him
in ways that most people cannot. Ezinma can command him to “finish” his food
and Obiageli can tell him not to speak when he is eating but his son does not
show such liberties. Ezinma grows up to be very beautiful and called “Crystal
of Beauty as her mother had been called in her youth” (172). We are not shown
her life as a married woman but the experiences of the wives depicted in the
novel indicate that wifehood can be a joyful phase of a woman’s life that goes
with expectations and responsibilities, but also a challenging situation with levels
of intimidation and subordination.
The
first daughter in an Igbo family is usually designated as ada, but in usage, the term extends to all daughters or girls and
women. The collective of daughters of a family or lineage is referred to as
umu-ada. The group wields tremendous powers through its social and political
roles at weddings, burials, family disputes and other occasions. Umu-ada is a
positive association with authority and responsibilities that elicit reverence.
However, the group sometimes abuses its power such as when it oppresses wives
of the families. Marginalized from the center of power in their marital
families, these women fare better in their natal families where some of them
control their brothers and their wives. In Things,
the daughters of Uchendu’s family return from their marital homes to celebrate
their brother’s marriage ceremony. They also try to enforce the expectation of
womanhood through a ceremony of virtue during which they try to browbeat the
new bride with questions about her virginity and faithfulness. People usually try
not to get involved in the affairs of or incur the anger of the tough group.
This is why the men and the wives of Uchendu’s extended family watch from a
distance (132).
Marriage
is an expectation in Igboland and the full grown daughter in her prime is the
pride of her family because of the promise of omumu. Omumu brings honor
that is realized through the agency of the physical woman. This helps us to
appreciate why Okonkwo persuades his daughters not to marry in exile so that he
will benefit from the honor that their marriage will bring. The greatest
expectation is that of motherhood that brings the new generation and ensures
continuity. Motherhood is usually attained through wifehood, but there are
communities where motherhood can be attained without wifehood in special
circumstances such as where a woman refuses to marry, does not get her desired
spouse, or becomes the husband of another woman for reasons of continuity. In
traditional societies, there are rituals associated with the process of enabling
a woman to transcend gender and marry a woman (Amadiume 1997:163). This
situation widens the roles and expectation of the woman-husband, who takes on
the responsibilities of a son that retains the family’s name and ensures
continuity. It also guarantees the maintenance of family property, old people,
and family traditions. This practice is found in other patrilineal African
societies such as among the Kikuyu of Kenya (Ngaruiya 2005), Fon of Benin and
Lovedu of Southern Africa (Greene 1998). The arrangement centers the woman as the
household head and promotes matriarchal control but it is based on patrilineal
concerns for the continuation of the family through a male hair that the
woman’s wife is expected to produce. Thus, women’s subordination is not
eliminated but assumes another patriarchal guise. It is driven by patriarchy as
the woman-husband dictates the sexual partner of the wife and owns the children
of the wife. The female husband is also the senior mother of the children born
by her wife thereby expressing omumu
nurturance through her wife’s children even when she also realizes the same
through her own biological children.
In
modern African societies, many women do operate like men by taking on masculine
responsibilities even though they have not gone through any ritual of
incorporation to manhood and do not need to, because many (not all) barriers are officially lifted even though
gender constraints still operate through patriarchal customs and practices.
They do not necessarily marry wives, but can expand their social, political,
and economic positions to become great mothers in their natal households and
communities. Modern exigencies necessitate this unprecedented expansion of
women’s roles and expectations outside wifehood. Abstract, biological and
sociological mothering gives daughters tremendous power as they express the
care-giving quality of omumu. Omumu power
derives from mother’s blood and/or the socializing influence of the nurturer.
It is a huge concept in Igbo psychology because of its function as the cohesive
glue that binds siblings and families. According to Nzegwu:
Every usokwu is a nodal point of
power that derives not from the spiritual ofo (authority) of a mother’s
husband but from her own natal family. It is the center of child socialization
activities … Mother’s blood provides the cohesive glue that binds siblings,
which men’s blood oaths attempt to mimic
… The basis of a mother’s power is her provision of the critical organ
that housed all children during their most vulnerable state of life (Nzegwu
2005).
We
contend that it is not just the provision of the critical organ but the belief
in that organ as well as actions that are perceived to be based on that organ
that binds. Igbo people recognize biology but emphasize caring for a child like
nwa omuru na afo (a child of her
womb), which underlines nurturing and socialization. Similarly, they recognize
the sociological father of a child when the biological is not the mother’s
husband and the official provider. Thus, even though the reproductive principle
in omumu finds its bearing from the
bio-logic of nne or mother, it is not
limited to it. Mother-being is
conceptualized in terms of function-performance as well as spiritual and
creative terms or what Opara and Eboh regard as the “palpable panegyrics of creative mothering” (2005).
They argue that biological mothering is similar to creative mothering which is
artistic mothering and that both are women’s vehicles for transcendence and
freedom. This partly explains why creative groups such as dance ensembles and
mask cults frequently require mother figures that provide the binding principle
of identity and oneness. Whether
creative, biological or function-performing, the physical woman or daughter is
implicated in the philosophy of omumu.
Conclusion
Our
discussion of womanhood in Things has
intersected with the hero’s characterization in order to create more
understanding of womanhood by engaging his naive view of womanhood that
contributed to his predicament in the novel. In Umuofia community where the
spiritual and biological principle of omumu
is elevated and revered in spite of the patriarchal organization of the
community, Okonkwo appears immature because of his actions that show disregard for
omumu. He has a fixation on narrow
masculinity and this often drives him to negativity. He looks down on women, is scornful of humane
qualities in his son, beats his wife, kills his foster son, kills hid friend’s
son, kills himself, and incurs the wrath of the goddess. His masculinity is a guise
to hide his fear of being perceived as a weak person, but he is weak. He puts on a guise of arrogance to hide his
weakness and exhibits bravado and intimidation of those he perceives as weak or
under his authority. This is in utter disregard of the spiritual principle of
the land and this drives his tragedy. The author seems to send a warning to
those who lack understanding of Igbo womanhood and the centrality of omumu, and therefore tend to deride the
female essence in ways that connote self derision. It is self delusion for anyone
to deride omumu because everyone springs
from and benefits from omumu largesse.
Okonkwo’s denial and suppression of whatever he considers female be it a human
trait, a physical woman or a man with feminine qualities signify his inability
to accept the totality of his selfhood that sprung from a woman’s omumu and embodies female principles.
Igbo
womanhood manifests in various ways, but we have concentrated on the salient
commonalities that connect with the omumu
principle of fecundity, begetting, and creativity. As a principle evoked by
gynecological presence and expectation, omumu
bestows power on women. As daughter, wife, and mother, women are revered
because of that principle that extends to the goddess but patriarchal social
organization tends to constrain this power while matriarchal organization tends
to facilitate it. Both of these organizations are reflected in Things even though the patriarchal is
the focus of the novel. Another important concept that factors in womanhood is
the Chi principle that equalizes all irrespective of hierarchies created by
human beings. It is a principle that helps individuals to transcend boundaries
as the hero of the novel does in transcending his poor class background and as
the widow, Chielo, does in transcending gender barrier to have spiritual
authority that makes her superior to the indomitable man of the novel.
Unlike
Chi that is common to all, the omumu
principle is special to women. It is a huge principle that drives the
psychology of traditional people and motivates their valuation of women. Omumu concept privileges women, but in
practice the advantage is mediated by the same essence of its power. Omumu essence makes possible the
devaluation of the human female by patriarchal power because of the inclusive
stances of the mother being. The motherbeing has the power to dominate but it
rules by benevolence and inclusiveness. It makes possible the sharing of power
with childbeings particularly the type that are directly excluded from the
ownership of omumu essence, but who nonetheless can exploit its benevolence
because of their kin connection. In the end, Igbo womanhood is profound, complex,
and the rock of Igbo communities, but it remains a kind of paradox because of omumu nature that has led researchers to
conflicting conclusions about women’s power, powerlessness, compliancy, and assertiveness.
Igbo womanhood is an enigma because of its basis on this significant Igbo philosophical concept.
Notes
1.
Referred to as Things and the novel
in this essay.
2.
“Female-person” is deliberately used to delineate the equality of man and woman
in the Igbo language signification.
3.CSE
36/1/11 MINLOC 17/1/18, Enugu, National
Archives.
4.
Arochukwu is a kingdom in Abia State, Nigeria with satellite towns, villages,
and lineages in other States. Citizens of the original and satellite locations
are regarded as Aro people.
5.
“Around the cooking stove” is comparable to the kitchen table culture of western
societies.
Primary source
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994.
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