Ekwefi, "Things Fall Apart"

The character that impacted me the most was Ekwefi, Okonkwo’s second wife and Ezinma’s mother. Ekwefi portrays a woman who does not represent the traditional role of an Igbo woman. For one she and Okonkwo did not have a traditional marriage. On page 39 we learn that she had fallen for Okonkwo during a wrestling match, the match where he beat the cat. Ekwefi did not marry Okonkwo then because he was too poor to pay her bride-price. Ekwefi married another man, but soon as could she ran left her husband and went to Okonkwo. This shows the reader that she is no butterfly, but a strong woman who goes after what she desires.
Ekwefi is also a woman who is not afraid of Okonkwo, as his other two wives are. In chapter 9, on page 75 we have an example of her fearlessness towards Okonkwo. “Okonkwo turned on his side and went back to sleep. He was roused in the morning by someone banging on his door. ‘Who is that?’ he growled. He knew it must be Ekwefi of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door.” Okonkwo accepts Ekwefi and does not reprimand her for banging on his door and waking him.
Ekwefi out of his three wives is the one who has suffered the most; therefore she is a woman who possesses a lot of emotional strength. She gave birth to ten children and out of the ten only one survived. Burying your own children is the worst emotional pain a woman can go through. In July of 2007 I buried my first born, due to a cord accident. I couldn’t imagine having to bury nine. Ekwefi after giving birth to Ezinma had little or no hope of her survival, but as it states in page 79; “At last Ezinma was born, and although ailing she seemed determined to live. At first Ekwefi accepted her, as she had accepted others-with listless resignation. But when she lived on to her fourth, fifth and sixth years, love returned once more to her mother, and, with love, anxiety. She determined to nurse her child to health, and she put all her being into it.” She was determined to give all the love she had to her daughter, and as we read Ezinma never called Ekwefi mother, she always called her by her name. On a personal note, I am pregnant again awaiting the birth of my second child. I as Ekwefi suffered a lot and still do, I also have some fear, which is normal, but my faith has kept me hopeful. I truly enjoyed reading this novel; I could hardly put it down.