Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart portrays the value in pre colonised cultures by presenting the responder with both positive and negative aspects of an Igbo society. However, with the advent of Western culture, it is the very threads with which the fabric of Ibo society is woven that cause it to fall apart in the end. Achebe depicts a patriarchal society in which war, violence and suffering exist, but are balanced by a firm sense of respect, communalism and social structure. Ezinma's character is the key element that Achebe has used to portray this sense of balance throughout the novel. She is central to demonstrating the importance of the relationships between women in Ibo culture, in portraying the beliefs which hold their society together and the wat in which colonisation disrupts them, and in demonstrating the resourcefulness of the tribe.
The relationships between the women of Ibo society is extremely important, it ensures stability in the social structure of the families and shows just how strong the bond between mother and daughter can be. Achebe shows the relationships between women as central to Ibo life. Okonkwo's wives do not compete with one another, but instead support and comfort each other. When the priestess takes Ezinma away Nwoye's mother tries to comfort Ekwefi and says "she will bring her back her back soon". Even when Ekwefi returned from the cave "everyone else was astir" and waiting to help her with Ezinma. Ekwefi's relationship with her daughter Ezinma is not just of paternal love, it is almost a "companionship of equals". Ezinma does "not call her mother Nne like all children", instead she calls her by her name. Ekwefi also allows Ezinma to decide what food to cook, and unlike most children she lets her eat "such delicacies as eggs", this too enforces the equality between the two. Here Achebe uses Ezinma as the focal point from which a vivid demonstration of tribal bonding is portrayed.
