Okonkwo and Ezinma, an unexpressed love. In his novel, ‘Things Fall Apart’, Achebe presents to the reader, a story based around the village of Umuofia. Through his narration which is close to an oral tradition, we discover the culture and commodities of that village as well as of some surrounding villages. Superstitions, festivals and traditions, everything is vividly described. The novel narrates the life of Okonkwo. The latter was very successful in everything he undertook. The opening lines of the novel clearly demonstrate his success. He had three wives and eight children. His life, however, starts to shatter little by little through a series of events, leading him to being exiled for seven years from his village. The story ends with his death. Okonkwo is the main character of ‘Things Fall Apart’. Yet, we meet Ezinma, who changes the way we perceive Okonkwo and even the story as a whole. She turns out to represent everything that is expected from a boy in that village except that she is a little girl. We discover, throughout the novel, that this girl shares a strong relationship with her father and brings out a side of him which we do not expect to see.

In Umuofia, traditions and beliefs are to be strongly respected. The line is clearly marked between men and women. Boys are taught to hide their feelings and be strong, while girls are expected to be more sensitive and caring. Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye is an example of that value which was taught : “Nothing pleased Nwoye