Blog Post Report #2 Things Fall Apart-Caitlynn Hancock

   As have started reading the book, Things Fall Apart, there are many things that I notice about the culture. The book does a great job of showing off the roles of each gender in this book, such as the men have a strong entitlement over the women. This, however, made me think of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s idea about the subaltern. This idea that is present in the book, How to Interpret Literature, talks about the subaltern, which is someone with less power. The women and children in this book do not have much power, they are considered the subalterns. Spivak wrote an article called “Can the Subaltern Speak?” not necessarily talking about women, but it could be interpreted in that way. How to Interpret Literature uses the example of the Sati, which means ‘good wife.’ A woman is a good wife if she agrees to die after her husband dies.

    

   This concept relates to Things Fall Apart in many ways, because in just the first few pages it talks about Okonkwo and his family. One quote that really sticks out is, “But his wives and young children were not as strong, and so they suffered. But they dared not complain openly,” (p. 13). Which directly relates to the article that Spivak composed, Can the Subaltern Speak? No, the women and children “..dared not complain…” completely correlates to the idea that women and children are the people of less power and if they say anything they will not like the consequences. It also stereotypes them to be not as strong. Women aren't supposed to be as strong as men physically, but apparently they are in some way supposed to be strong. 

       

   There are many other ideas throughout the book that hint at this concept, but one other part of the book that really sticks out as well is in chapter ten, the story goes on to talk about the ceremony and how it is at the egwugwu house. “…many-colored patterns and drawings done by specially chosen women at regular intervals. These women never saw the inside of the hut. No woman ever did. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men. If they imagined what was inside, they kept their imagination to themselves. No woman ever asked questions about the most powerful and most secret cult in the clan,” (p.88). The women of this clan need the supervision of a man to paint the walls of this house full of “spirits.” The women clearly have no entitlement compared to the men of the clan. The women are to not know about what goes on inside, which from my point shows that they are subalterns and have almost no power. They do what the men tell them to do and are not allowed to ask questions if they are curious about anything about the clan. The woman and children are the subalterns of Things Fall Apart. 

Caitlynn Hancock