Masculinity: Slavery in the United States Essay

Things Fall A erupt was written in the 1890s, when dust coats went to Nigeria. The unexampled shows the clash mingled with the whites and the civilization of the Igbo people. The novel is near(predicate) a composition named Okonkwo, and his product for respect, fortune and power which in the obliterate leads to his expected death. His not bad(p) power did non come to an end because of colonization, comfort kind of his declension was his obsession with masculinity. The narrative of Frederick Douglass excessively defines masculinity. The narrative of Frederick Douglass took place in America.During buckle downry, Frederick Douglass was modified to plantation spirt because blacks were non seen as being capable to achieve more in breeding but that did non stop him. however though some(prenominal) men came from two dissimilar backgrounds, they some(prenominal) had a personal small-armner of portraying their masculinity. there are many things in life that mo ve either make us successful or leads us to failure. In things Fall A pct, Okonkwos feared he ordain choke a failure exchangeable his aim. He struggled to be as different from his deceased father as possible.He believes his father to hold up been weak, effeminate, lazy, ignominious, and poor. Consequently, Okonkwo strives to be strong, masculine, industrious, respected, and soused (pg 4). This drove him to recklessness, and added to his death. He began to let the plan of fear of failure and of weakness to maintain his life by the novel (pg 13). Okonkwo believed felling an feeling or showing star was a call attention of weakness. He said, When did you become a shivering old woman, Okonkwo asked himself, you, who are know in all the nine vill durations for your valiance in war?How usher out a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you harbor become a woman indeed (pg 65). He began to talk to himself so m uch about how weak he was becoming. It got to the point where he believed showing an perception was a sign of weakness. In chapter twenty, Okonkwo had a conversation with Obierika and he matt-up as though whites have taken everyplace their tradition and culture but Obierika explained to him that the whites did nothing to his people. His people betrayed their own.He says, Obierika points out the impossibility of the colonialists understanding anything about the Umuofians without speaking their language. He points out the ludicrousness of minimize unfamiliar customs. Yet, Obierika does not lay the foot wholly on the side of the white man. He feels also that the Umuofians who have born-again to Christianity have consciously and wrongly turn their backs on their own brothers (pg 174-175). Another unmatched of Okonkwos weaknesses was portrayed through the way he defined masculinity so narrowly.Even though Okonkwo was a part of a male- checkled society and the male grammatical gend er was already established with great authorization he still felt interchangeable he had to control everything as a man should do. He was scared to oblige to this change because he felt this bequeath make him less of a man. He says, The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no agelong act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us to conducther and we have fallen apart (pg 176).He was not able to oblige to the clashing values of both(prenominal) societies and the changing ways around him. He could not accept the fact that in a colonized society he would be an average person, rather than a grand and powerful male. By adapting to his own caprice of masculinity he rejected everything that his father stood for cowardice, gentleness, and laziness. Okonkwo stood for bravery, courage, hard work, and at many times, felt violence was the only answer to his solution. Okonkwo have it awayd in a patriarchal society where males dominated, and he took advantage of this authority.He associated masculinity with aggression and felt that anger was the only emotion that he should display. Frederick Douglass was a man who stood for what he believed without letting fear taking control of him. Likewise, Frederick Douglas was born in February 1818. At the age of ten or el all the same, Douglass is sent to live in Baltimore with Hugh and Sophia Auld. Douglass overhears a conversation betwixt them and comes to understand that whites maintain power over black knuckle downs by keeping them un spring upd. Douglass resolves to educate himself and escape from slavery.Douglass struggles to free himself, mentally and physically, from slavery. During this time, African Americans were very limited to do anything. All he wanted was emancipation from slavery so he can feel like a man. Douglas was an abolitionist who was dedicate d to turn around. He was motivated to pick up himself how to read and write because he did not want to be a slave for the rest of his life. Frederick Douglass was driven to succeed. Frederick Douglass was a slave at one point but gained his freedom through his education. He says, What he most dreaded, that I most sought after (Douglass pg 19).Douglass knew his master did not want him to learn how to read and write, yet he was dry and attempted to better himself. Frederick Douglass is a man who had a lot of potential. Frederick Douglass saw the ethnical differences between blacks and whites, yet he still focused on his goals and motivated himself. Even though Douglas knew that whites had the mentality that They were better than blacks, he still focused on his goals. Frederick Douglas neer looked down on education because he knew what the outcome of his goal would bring. Moreover, Frederick Douglass was a self-motivated man who wanted to have freedom.He claims, When I was sent o f errands, I always took my keep back with me, and by going one part of my errand quickly, I found time to get a lesson before my return (Douglass pg 22). With Douglass ambition, he was ready to get his freedom without thought process about the consequences because he knew his hard work will pay off one day. Frederick Douglass is the comment of a man and a leader because he was honest, straightforward, inspiring, and competent. Many great men have come and deceased but Frederick Douglass will always have a great influence on many generations because of his drive to get his freedom and education.Education is something one needs. It will be hard for many to function through life without an education and he showed anyone can do it if they put their mind to it. in that respect were many differences between Okonkwo and Frederick Douglass but both men had a purpose in life as men and I believed they both accomplished what they were looking for even though ones went better than the ot her. Okonkwos transfer was not because of colonization, but rather his downfall was attributed by his obsession with masculinity. The narrative of Frederick Douglass was the definition of masculinity.