One of the easiest ways to perceive an inherent difference in the roles women in both books is by looking at the description of them given by the narrator. For instance, in Things Fall Apart, women are never given full descriptions and in some cases, are not even named. The narrator saves the detailed descriptions of appearance and actions for men only, which is only appropriate because their roles in society are limited. While the one exception in Achebe’s novel to this lack of description is Ezinma, this is only because she is valued because she is boy-like in character. The narrator tells us in one of the important quotes from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe that Okonkwo thought that she “should have been a boy” and “if Ezinma had been a boy he would have been happier.”

The only time we see Okonkwo feeling emotion is when her life is in danger and one must wonder if her “crossover” status as both boy and girl allows Okonkwo to feel the only balance he experiences throughout the book. Like Jim, he sees how a female can be both male and female and can accept and love her for her frailty as well as her strength and “boyish” attitude. Even still, beyond this instance, the women in the novel are merely characters who are beaten and scolded. Furthermore, the women are the ones in the background that keep Igbo society functioning. They are the ones doing the cooking, painting the religious houses, bearing and nurturing children, and providing comfort–in other words, women in “Things Fall Apart” belong in the home. It is the man’s role to provide for them and his is a role that Okonkwo takes very seriously. He does not recognize the work these women put in daily and only beats or accuses them of negligence. In short, their role is very narrow in the society and although there is a priestess, she is not “common woman” in the novel and thus does not stand for the idea that women have power. Women are not allowed into meeting of men and they are often not given any description, almost as though they are not only insignificant in this society, but in a narrative sense either.

If description of women indicates a stronger female role in society, then clearly My Antonia is offering readers a view of pioneer women that is not settled in traditional gender stereotypes. Antonia, her sister, and Lena as well as the host of other female characters are all given rich detailed description—description that is equivalent to and often greater than that given to men. While Achebe’s descriptions of female characters in the culture of the Igbo people presented in ‘Things Fall Apart” could be reduced to small one-word adjectives, Cather writes (in the voice of Jim) that Lena, was “A plump fair skinned girl [who] was standing in the doorway. She looked demure and pretty, and made a graceful picture in her blue cashmere dress and little blue hat, with a plaid shawl neatly about her shoulders and a clumsy pocket book in her hand.” Her importance as a person in society, not just to the narrator, is revealed through this lengthy and image-rich description.

Even more importantly, Lena has a voice of her own that goes far beyond the quick answers and comments of the wives and other women in Things Fall Apart. For instance, her vivacity is shown when she boldly states in one of the important quotes from “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, “I’m going to get my mother out of that old sod house where she’s lived so many years. The men will never do it.” Her she asserts her role within her family and society and is given a unique voice of her own, one that is strong and does not sound just the same as other women in the novel as is the case inThings Fall Apart. Furthermore, she is allowed to express a willingness to go against social norms and make her own decisions apart from men. For example, at one point she declares, “Men are alright as friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old father.” Again, it is important to remember that these are texts from entirely different cultures, but the fact remains that the traditional role of women in both cultures is at home with a husband. A woman character in Achebe’s novel would have never been allowed to get away with such a statement, but Cather’s female characters are able to break the norms. The reader accepts this because it is understood that all of the female characters in the novel are unique and have an individual set of circumstances. In Things Fall Apart, however, it seems as though the circumstances of nearly all of the women are the same, thus a statement of such defiance would not have seemed appropriate.

To continue with this idea, it should be mentioned that another key difference between these two texts is the way women are represented within the larger social climate of the setting. In Things Fall Apart, women are the pillars of the societal structure whereas in My Antonia they often threaten this structure. To illustrate this point, consider that in the historical African culture of “Things Fall Apart”, it is the women who are the ones who raise the children, keep house, and prepare the food. They are also the support people for their children and (except for Okonkwo) their husbands. Without their steady work and effort, society would crumble. In this light, it is really a shame that they are not given significant roles in the text beyond a few lines and sparse descriptions. They behave “en masse” and do not make individual decisions.

This is directly the opposite in My Antonia and is especially clear when the main characters begin reaching adulthood. Jim tells the reader, “The country girls were considered a menace to the social order. Their beauty shone out too boldly against a conventional background. But anxious mother need have felt no harm. They mistook the mettle of their sons. The respect for respectability was stronger than any desire in Black Hawk youth.” This is an interesting quote because it both reveals a respect for the traditions that demand women behave a certain way and because it shows that women were able to break these traditions and blaze their own trail. When Antonia was told she must quit dancing, she did not obediently stop but simply went somewhere else. When that other place put her in harms way (the attempted rape) she acted on her own accord and left the situation. She almost left for Denver and came back pregnant (a huge social mistake and a break with tradition) yet raised the child anyway just as her friends struck out to make it one their own in big cities without husbands.

Even though the women in both novels are assigned certain roles that differ between the two cultures presented, they are similar because they are the representatives of home and comfort. Although Okonkwo does not like the idea of being weak by returning to the land of his mother, the cultural notion of motherhood in “Things Fall Apart” and land is expressed by his friend, Obierka, “It is true that a child belongs to its father. But when a father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its mother’s hut. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland.” This same idea is also present in My Antonia when Jim returns twenty years later to the land he loves and sees Antonia as the ultimate of motherhood and home. She not only has many of her own children, but her orchard and the land are like her offspring as well. He can always return to her as she symbolizes comfort and stability. In this same sense, the land of Okonkwo mother is the same place, despite his ideas about the weakness aspect, and thus the one universal and cross cultural idea about women is expressed in both texts.

Other essays and articles in the Literature Archives related to this topic include :  Women, Colonization & Cultural Change in “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe • History, Narrative and Culture in “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe •  Comparison of Tragic Characters in Things Fall Apart and Oedipus the King  •   The Role of Land in O! Pioneers by Willa Cather