Social Media Essay: The Effect of Status in Society

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok. These well-known platforms have millions and millions of users all for what? Although these media platforms have their respective positives, many people use them as ways to look good towards others. For example, if someone scrolled through Instagram, they would think that everyone is living the perfect life—which is what many people want others on the app to think. However, behind the screen, these people are living lives engulfed by powerful cravings for status, while their mental health slowly perishes. “These people'', researched in Lost Connections by Johann Hari are extrinsic people. This idea is also explored in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe through a man named Okonkwo, who is part of the Ibo culture in his village, Umuofia. Both authors delineate the grave mindset of believing that having a high rank in society leads to happiness.  In both Okonkwo’s world and the present world, society obsesses over extrinsic values that are depicted as status symbols but are not truly meaningful to themselves which leads to mental consequences.

Many people in society have a strong desire for extrinsic goals that are depicted as status symbols. In Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, yams are depicted as a status symbol in the Ibo culture, showing wealth and power. Early in the novel, Okonkwo requests yams from Nwakibie, a respected elder with many yams who ends up giving Okonkwo eight hundred yams: “‘It pleases me to see a young man like you these days when our youth has gone so soft… As our fathers said you can tell a ripe corn by its look. I shall give you twice four hundred yams. Go ahead and prepare your farm.’ Okonkwo thanked him again and again and went home feeling happy” (Achebe 22). The use of the phrase “again and again” shows Okonkwo’s excessive gratitude towards Nwakibie for giving him yams. This demonstrates Okonkwo’s childish hunger for yams—which in the bigger picture means a childish hunger for status. Hari’s Lost Connections categorize motives similar and different to Okonkwo’s greed. Tim, a scientist, found that there are two types of motives: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motives are motives that one has out of pure joy and happiness, while extrinsic motives are motives one has in order to get something back in return such as superior status (Hari 95). Tim’s research shows that extrinsic people are motivated by the incentive that they gain status in return for whatever they are working for. Connecting this to Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s motivation pairs with Tim’s depiction of an extrinsic person. As seen in Okonkwo’s childish portrayal, he yearns for as many yams as possible, almost as if he is a little child begging his mom for more toys. However, his desire is completely different from a little child’s—Okonkwo is not driven by the yams themselves but by the fact that he sees them as status symbols. Okonkwo’s true obsession for yams is not at all meaningful to himself but is rather used to improve his status in the village.

Extrinsic people live their daily lives in constant fear of losing their status. In Things Fall Apart, the Ibo culture views converting to Christianity as a feminine trait—especially Okonkwo who strongly values masculinity. In the Ibo culture, being feminine greatly damages one’s status, while being masculine improves one’s status. In an altercation between Okonkwo and his son Nwoye, Achebe describes a hostile scene of Okonkwo attempting to beat Nwoye after finding out that he was with the Christian missionaries: “Nwoye turned round to walk into the inner compound when his father, suddenly overcome with fury, sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck… Okonkwo did not answer. But he left hold of Nwoye who walked away and never returned” (Achebe 152). Achebe’s use of violent phrases such as “fury” and “sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck” shows Okonkwo’s intense anger towards Nwoye for being with the missionaries. Later in the novel, Okonkwo lectures his other sons—slandering Nwoye’s actions and warning them to not follow the same path: “Now he is no longer my son or your brother. I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold his head up among my people. If any one of you prefers to be a woman, let him follow Nwoye now while I am alive so that I can curse him: If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck” (Achebe 172). Achebe’s use of the phrase “break your neck” indicates that Okonkwo is driven by absolute fear after Nwoye’s conversion to Christianity, worrying that his sons would do the same as Nwoye. Okonkwo is so scared that he brings in violence in order to control them. Correspondingly, in Lost Connections, Tim’s research found that extrinsic people tend to live their lives with negative emotions and have worse daily experiences than intrinsic people because they live in constant fear of losing their status (Hari 95). After Nwoye’s conversion, Okonkwo lives his life with the daily fear that his sons will convert to Christianity. He does this not for the sake of his sons, but for the sake of himself. Under the Ibo culture, raising sons with feminine traits ruins their reputation which would most likely cause Okonkwo to lose his status as well. Subsequently, he confronts his sons with violence, threatening that he will hurt them if they do not abide by his commands. Therefore, Okonkwo matches Tim’s research of an extrinsic person perfectly, which proves that extrinsic people live their daily lives with negative emotions in fear that they will lose their status. In Okonkwo’s case, he threatens his sons with violence in fear that he will lose status because they will convert to Christianity, which is a feminine trait.

Intrinsic people find themselves much happier than extrinsic people, while extrinsic people are faced with mental consequences. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe describes Nwoye’s first experience with the Christian missionaries: “He felt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. The words of the hymn were like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth. Nwoye’s callow mind was greatly puzzled” (Achebe 147). Achebe’s use of the simile “like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth” allows him to describe the impact of the Christian missionaries on Nwoye, emphasizing how much of a revolution the experience was for Nwoye. Nwoye’s pure joy shows that he is an intrinsic person, which means that he is juxtaposed with his father Okonkwo, who is an extrinsic person. In Lost Connections, Tim found that extrinsic people do not find themselves being happier on a daily basis. However, intrinsic people find themselves being significantly happier after pursuing their passion, and experience less negative emotions (Hari 96). Prior to the arrival of the Christian missionaries, Nwoye was subject to mental and physical manipulation by Okonkwo—he would be forced to act more masculine by Ibo standards. However, this manipulation was all to improve the status of Okonkwo and left Nwoye’s mental health to completely dry out. However, with the arrival of the Christian missionaries in Umuofia, Nwoye felt a sense of revival and happiness for the first time. Under the Ibo culture in Umuofia, being interested in Christianity would be appalling to Nwoye’s status. In addition to that, his father would also be furious with him if he knew about his interest in Christianity, which would ruin his status in his household. Nwoye—defying the environment he grew up in—put his status aside and focused on what made him truly happy with himself. Therefore, Nwoye ideally matches Tim’s image of an intrinsic person. Because he is juxtaposed with Okonkwo’s extrinsic persona, their ideas and motives ultimately clash, causing a falling out between the two. Although Okonkwo found himself in distress after losing Nwoye to the Christian missionaries, Nwoye found himself being significantly happier now that he was out of the control of his father. Okonkwo’s negative morale and Nwoye’s positive morale were expected through Tim’s research due to their contrary motives of being extrinsic and intrinsic people.

Through Achebe and Hari’s representation of status in society, they warn their audience about the issues that surround the subject of status in society. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe illustrates the severe dangers of being immersed in an extrinsic mindset through the character of Okonkwo. In Lost Connections, Hari exhibits the scientific effects behind intrinsic and extrinsic people which further proves Achebe’s message. The messages from both authors enhance the awareness of the elevated percentage of extrinsic people within society. People should remember that the deceitful image of status that extrinsic people are heavily invested in is detrimental to the mental health of society as a whole. Rather than trying to ignore this issue, society should be more concerned about how contemporary society views status to put a positive foot forward in the mental health of the future.