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Women In The Arrow Of God Analysis

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The identity of women in the Arrow of God (1964) reflects the traditional gender manifestations with an imbalance of the female principles. The negative side of the women is revealed through some instances in the novel. In the opening slot of the novel, the image of Igbo women is described as a cruel foster-mother. The narrator says, “The moon he saw that day was as thin as an orphan fed grudgingly by a cruel foster mother.” (AOG: 2) The identity of the women in such a way is exposed in a form of the rank in a social order.
Igbo Marriage system in Umuaro among Igbo people flashes the light on the inequality and imbalance between men and women. Men are allowed to marry with several women as portrayed in the novel Things Fall Apart. (1958) Akuekbue has a couple of wives. Nwaka, one of the local leaders of the village has the five wives. Ezeulu, the chief priest has three wives, the younger wife Ugoye, is of the equal age of his first daughter. The custom of marriages about having more wives is continued in the colonial period in Nigeria. The bride price issue reminds the selling of women by their fathers to the families of the bridegrooms. The women in Arrow of God (1964) are forbidden to share the property of their fathers after marriages. In short, they have to bear the burden of their husbands meekly without leaving their husband’s house. The regular beatings of the women are the stereotype identity in the society. Achebe puts in the conversation among them regarding the

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