In this chapter, Ezinma gets very sick. Okonkwo assures his wife that she is not dying, and he goes and gets her medicine. The book then discusses how unlucky Ekwefi was with having children. Before Ezinma, nine other of her children died when they were very young. Their culture believed that if the baby died, their spirit would come back into the mother's stomach. For this reason, dead babies were mutilated so that they wouldn't return. Ekwefi even began naming her children things like "Death, I emplore you" or "May it not happen again." I can see why she didn't believe that Ezinma was going to live. It would be so tramatic to lose a child, let alone nine. The chapter also talks about Ezinma's "iyi-uwa," which supposedly linked her to the after life. Because of all these things, Ekwefi constantly worries about her daughter. In chaper ten, there is a huge meeting where a sort of court case will be heard. The judges of the case wear masks so that no one will know who they are. The dispute is over an abusive husband. The bride's family wishes him to pay a higher price for her because he constantly beats her. The judges side with the family but cannot believe someone would come to them with such a trivial case. I do not understand why the case is so stupid to them. If someone was abusing their wife, they should be punished. Why does this culture support women abuse?
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