Okonkwo’s wives would have been raised in the tradition of the clan. This means that they would have a clear understanding of the hierarchy within a family in terms of the first, second, and third wife. They would also understand a polygamous relationship. Each wife has her own hut and a particular role within the family.
There is no evidence of strife between the wives. In fact, they seem to support each other. Refer to chapter four, in which Ojiugo, the third wife, goes to have her hair braided. She does not prepare her portion of Okonkwo’s meal, nor does she ensure her children have any food. It is Nwoye’s mother, the first wife, who takes in Ojiugo’s children to feed and attempts to excuse her actions when Okonkwo searches for her.
Consider also how Nwoye’s mother and Ekwefi plead with Okonkwo not to beat Ojiugo when she...
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returns. This is indicative of their concern for her as well as the rest of the family, as Okonkwo’s violence during the Week of Peace is a grave sin.
Ekwefi, who struggled to conceive children and who lost many infants to death, is supported by the other wives. Note the incident where Ezinma, her only daughter, takes ill.
Ekwefi does struggle to celebrate the happiness of the other wife’s births (prior to Ezinma’s birth) but it is not out of jealousy. Instead, she is upset at her own misfortune. Refer to the following quote from Chapter Nine:
“Ekwefi was the only person in the happy company who went about with a cloud on her brow. Her husband’s wife took this for malevolence, as husbands’ wives were wont to. How could she know that Ekwefi’s bitterness did not flow outwards to others but inwards into her own soul; that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any.”
Overall, it would seem that a harmonious relationship exists between Okonkwo's three wives.