When first reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, it is easy to blame the end of Okonkwo's life and the Umofia community on the invasions imperialists of white men. After all, Okonkwo seemed to be enjoying relative peace and happiness before this. He had some mishaps; one of them earned him an eight-year exile. Nevertheless, he returned to his hometown in good spirits and with prospects of increased success. However, everything has changed. The white men brought with them a new religion and a new government. Okonkwo's family falls apart. The men of his village lose courage and valor; they put up no resistance to the white men. Therefore, Okonkwo commits suicide in disgrace and Umofia succumbs to the white men. However, white men are not the only ones responsible for Umofia's disappearance. Igbo culture, particularly its view of gender roles, sows the seed of its own destruction. By glorifying aggressive and manly traits and ignoring gentle and feminine traits, Umofia causes its own disintegration. In Umofia, virility is associated with strength and femininity with weakness (Okhamafe 127). There is no such thing as a strong woman and all men should despise weakness. In Umofia, “all men are men, but not all men are men” (Okhamafe 126). Only strong men who hold titles deserve to be called “men.” The Igbo word "agbala" is an alternative work for "woman" and for a man who did not have a title. Women in Igbo society are expected to act a certain way. Okonkwo scolds his daughter, Ezinma, when she does not “sit like a woman” (Achebe 44). He will not let Ezinma bring his chair to the wrestling match because it is a “boy’s job” (Achebe 44). Eve...... middle of paper ...... then their children would not have abandoned them and their lives would not have fallen apart. Main source Achebe, Chinua. Things are falling apart. New York: Random House, 1994. Secondary sources Iyasẹre, Solomon Ogbede. “Okonkwo’s Participation in the Murder of His “Son” in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: A Study in the Vile Decision.” Understanding Things Fall Apart: Selected Essays and Reviews. Troy, New York: Whitson, 1998. 129-40. Print. Okhamafe, Imafedia. “Geneological Determinism in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.” Modern Critical Interpretation: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2002. 125-44. Print.Salamore, Frank. “The Representation of Masculinity in Classical Nigerian Literature.” Modern Critical Interpretations of Bloom: China Achebe's Things Fall Apart. New ed. New York: Bloom's Literary Review, 2010. 141-52. Print.