Things Fall Apart Lesson Plan

Discuss the following statement: “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man.” 

Students may evaluate how this statement reconciles with their previous discussion of masculinity and male rites of passage in the novel. Does this claim accord with their previous understanding of how masculinity is defined in Ibo culture? This question may also prompt a discussion of cultural relativity, since some students may take offense to this statement or disagree with it based on their own values. They may also question what it means for one person to "rule"...