Masculinity versus femininity

If the main idea of the story is seen it is a tragedy but the original idea of this story is masculinity vs. femininity. There is a conflict between Ibo and the British. The Ibo are an agrarian people who are patriarchal and the Okonkwo who is the protagonist has solid thoughts.

Ibo emphasizes on traditional values andrespect. The two cultures do not have any common background. The lack of common language between Okonkwo and Ibo interrupts in religious, cultural and legal appreciation. The beating incident of Okonkwo’s wife creates the disparity and that was not acceptable by the British. It also separates the two cultures.

Okonkwo wanted to be different from his father. He wanted to be distant from him as according to him his father was a coward warrior and he knew that his father was not able to handle the situation boldly. So Okonkwo himself wanted to be a brave warrior with many titles. When his son joined the church, Okonkwo felt very sad as he thought that his son was weak in mind and he thought that his son would become soft because of the influence of whiteculture. By this example we can find out the issue of masculinity vs. femininity. Okonkwo made his whole life on the basis of masculinity and so he gave to his tribe. He always believed that this is the masculinity that can survive a tribe.