In Things Fall Apart, a male member
of the Igbo tribe may advance in terms of wrestlers thrown, cowries collected, wives
obtained, children sired, titles garnered, heads taken in war, and yams harvested.
Males were thus upwardly mobile within the tribe; females, however, could only be
mobile within the family, depending on which wife they were (by
age).
In the novel, males can attain upward mobility
through great physical labor in the fields, at war, and during the wrestling matches.
Females have limited mobility and can only hope to marry a titled male. Luckily, a
wife will give birth to several male children who survive. Only then will she be
granted her own obi and status among the other
wives.
Okonkwo, for example, has three wives and several
children who live in separate obis on his compound. He has an obi full of yams for
which he has had to toil mercilessly. He has limited cowries (shells used for money)
because he has had to repay his father's debts.
Most
importantly, Okonkwo has two titles (and two more to go). These are the main status
symbols in the tribe; they are like stars on a general. Also of note are Okonkwo's five
heads taken in battle. And, don't forget, he first achieved fame by throwing the Cat
during a wrestling match. Having been the son of an agbala
(titleless male), Okonkwo's hard work has allowed him to move up the social ladder of
the tribe to become one of its most respected leaders.
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