Ben--English pd. 6

Chinua Achebe--Things F a l l Apart Entry # 4

Ekwefi and the Perception of Death
In Things Fall Apart, mainly in Chapter 9, I realized and came upon a new character in this book that I found idiosyncratic. This character is Ekwefi. She is the 3rd wife of Okonkwo. I find her interesting because she's a strong character. She had 10 children and 9 of them had died. She remained bitter throughout her life until Ezinma was born. Ezinma basically restored the mother's anxiety and depression. If you think about it, it would be hard dealing with so many deaths.
Ekwefi went through so much, that she lost hope whenever a new child was born. In fact, she grew hopeless because much of her children died before the age of 3. Losing children not only brought depression to Ekwefi, but it made her feel proud. Basically in Umuofia, gaining children was a woman's "crowning glory," an acheivement made that a woman should feel proud about.
When she lost hope she named her children Onwumbiko--"Death, I implore you," Ozoemena--"Mayit not happen again," and Onwuma--"Death may please himself. Can you imagine how much she dealt with throughout her life? She tried eveyrthing she could, and all she had was 1 child and 9 children that had died. She was a bitter person, but mainly I like her, because she isn't like the other wives. She's stronger, and she knows more about death and even life, that the other 2 wives wouldn't know.
This makes me think about Death and why people die. Death is such a powerful thing. It's something that we must face, and we suffer from. Where do we go? Is the question most people ask. Mainly, I've always wondered why death has to occur. Ekwefi must wonder about this, because I think she's learned a lot about life. I think she can realize that life is too short, and that sometimes we have to let go of things. Ekwefi's spirit reminds me of a rose. She is sharp, but deep inside lies a beautiful spirit. As she loses her petals (emotions), she may wilt at times, but she will blossom again with sun and water. This sun and water is Ezinma, in my opinion, and her love for fighting. I guess that is why she loves fighting so much, because she has seen pain, and tries to look at it with an optimistic view.

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