Ekwefi Character Analysis in Things Fall Apart

Ekwefi is Okonkwo's second wife and the mother of Ezinma. Once the village beauty, Ekwefi ran away from her first husband to live with Okonkwo. Ezinma is her only surviving child, and the two share a close relationship. Having lost her first nine children to death in infancy, Ekwefi fears that she will lose Ezinma too.

Ekwefi Character Timeline in Things Fall Apart

The timeline below shows where the character Ekwefi appears in Things Fall Apart. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...brings the greatest wrestling match between Okonkwo's village and its neighbors, and Okonkwo's second wife Ekwefi is most excited by the wrestling. Many years ago, she had been the village beauty,... (full context)

On the morning of the second day of the festival, Ekwefi and her only daughter Ezinma talk as she prepares a fowl to eat. Ezinma asks... (full context)

Ezinma brings Okonkwo a bowl of the pottage Ekwefi prepared and waits as he finishes his first wife's bowl. Her father is stern with... (full context)

...wins some fame by finishing his match extremely quickly. During a break in the wrestling, Ekwefi speaks with Chielo, the priestess of the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. Chielo... (full context)

...Okonkwo dozes. Okonkwo stops sleeping at night as well. On the third day, he asks Ekwefi to roast plantains for him, and Ezinma delivers the dish, telling him to finish it,... (full context)

Okonkwo begins to sleep well again after three nights, but then Ekwefi wakes him in the morning by banging on his door. She says that Ezinma is... (full context)

Ekwefi's nine previous children died in infancy, and a medicine man said that each child was... (full context)

Okonkwo returns with ingredients, and he and Ekwefi prepare the medicine. Once the medicine is ready, he forces Ezinma to sit under a... (full context)

One moonless night, Ezinma and Ekwefi sit in their hut telling stories. Ekwefi tells the story of a clever tortoise who... (full context)

...god Agbala wants to see Ezinma in his house in the hills and the caves. Ekwefi says that she will go too, but Chielo curses her and commands her not to... (full context)

The night is very dark, and Ekwefi has to run to keep up with Chielo. She becomes more and more afraid, wondering... (full context)

Ekwefi begins to doubt herself, wondering if she can do anything if something happens to Ezinma... (full context)

Okonkwo sits down to wait with Ekwefi, and she recalls their younger days together, when she ran away from her first husband... (full context)

...and children begin to gather to help the bride's mother cook for the whole village. Ekwefi is exhausted from the previous night. Chielo had crawled out of the shrine with Ezinma... (full context)

...close, Okonkwo decides to throw a feast for his mother's kinsmen to show his gratitude. Ekwefi harvests her cassava, and Okonkwo slaughters three goats and a number of fowl, making for... (full context)

...the most beautiful girls in Mbanta. She is called the Crystal of Beauty, just as Ekwefi had been called in her youth. She has many marriage prospects in Mbanta, but refuses... (full context)