Toxic Masculinity

Communication is essential for a relationship, whether between businesses, groups, things, or two people, to function. Communication can be inhibited by many things, which can lead to clashes and problems in these relationships. Some things that can impede communication between people, whether between groups or individuals, are pride and toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity is a phenomena in which social constructs present masculinity as the most important value, leading to many violent and aggressive tendencies in order for one to present themselves as masculine and powerful. This is something that is very obviously seen in Okonkwo. His aversion to communication also stems from this. The Ibo are a people with many beautiful values, rituals, …show more content…
Brown returns home he is replaced by another missionary named Mr. Smith. Rather than taking Mr. Browns agreeable approach Mr. Smith attempts to force the spread of Christianity by putting himself on a pedestal. Mr. Smith’s approach is not nearly as successful as Mr. Brown’s because it lacks any form of communication. He even treats his interpreter, Okeke, poorly. The narrator says that he only sees black and white, a clear separation between the races, and because of the sense of pride he has about being supposedly better than the Ibo inhibits him from communicating. Because of this and his blatant disrespect for the Ibo, evident by his rebuking of Okeke for still having ties to the Ibo culture, “…[a] great conflict between the church and clan in Umuofia…had been gathering since Mr. Brown left” (Achebe 186). Mr. Smith avoids communicating with the Ibo because of his own pride, but Okonkwo’s aversion to communication is due to his strong and unhealthy view of masculinity and its importance in Umuofian …show more content…
Okonkwo had a traumatic childhood with a lazy, titleless father who was lowly regarded in society. Because of his upbringing he is violent with his family and does not tolerate laziness. His obsession with masculinity causes his aversion to communication because he sees it as womanly in comparison to his preference of violence and war. His inability to communicate causes him to “…[rule] his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially his youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper… (Achebe 13), especially when he went as far as to beat his wife during the week of peace. If Okonkwo was not so prideful about his masculinity and set in his ways to avoid non-physical acts such as communication he would likely be a much better leader and even more respected than he already is. An example of this is when the meeting of leaders is occurring and Okonkwo is spiteful over the fact that they are meeting to discuss. His aversion to verbal problem solving is what leads him to killing the missionary rather than attempting to sort out the conflict, thus dooming himself to exile. Communication is elemental in societies for them to function successfully, and Okonkwo’s inability to do so inevitably leads to his exile and the violent acts he is constantly

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