Okonkwo's Wives

Many of us know that things are not perfect and they will never be but we can strive to make things better! There is too much violence and poor family relationships in this village. Wives are being mistreated, men are beating them in front of their kids and women can’t do anything about it. If women were able to have a say in who their husband was, relationships and family dynamics in the village would be more pleasant.

If wives could choose their husbands families would be closer. They would actually want to be around each other, they would not be around each other just because they had too. Take the mighty Okonkwo’s compound for example, “he has a large compound enclosed by a thick wall of red death. His own hut or obi stands immediately behind the only gate in the red wall. Each of his wives have their own hut…”. Okonkwo’s wives do not live with their husband and his children do not live with their father. This is very dysfunctional system for a family.

Many of the men in our village run a very tight ship in their compounds “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially they youngest, live in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children.” One day Okonkwo’s second wife cut som palms off a tree to wrap up some food, Okonkwo thought she had killed the tree so without further argument he gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping. You should not fear your spouse, you should not be afraid to do something because you will beat them if you do it wrong. Both people in the couple need to love and respect each other if wives get a say in who they marry it will create a better environment for their children to live