What Is The Theme Of Marriage Is A Private Affair By Chinua Achebe

As Oekeke awoke, he shifted in his bed with a pain coming from his chest. It wasn’t a pain that made you clench up and scream, he knew from that moment something was very wrong. He tried to open his at last, from when he awoke his eyes were still weary but it seemed as though he was stuck in time. His heart pumped faster and his mind was propelling from left to right to across the back and back. All he could think of was his family, but with such confusion he could hardly focus on the realty of his situation. It was a sensation he’d never felt ever before, and as he saw his life flash by him he knew the only thing he could do was to wait it out. The old man finally grasped control of his life covered in sweat and disorientation. He asked

Chinua Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart, is a story of a traditional village in Nigeria from inside Umuofia around the late 1800s. This novel depicts late African history and shows how the British administrative structure, in the form of the European Anglican Church, imposed its religion and trappings on the cultures of Africa, which they believed was uncivilized. This missionary zeal subjugated large native populations. Consequently, the native traditions gradually disappeared and in time the whole local social structure within which the indigenous people had lived successfully for centuries was destroyed. Achebe spends the first half of the novel depicting the Ibo culture, by

The novel also explores the negative impact that inequality has on the lives of Nigerians. Characters experience both gender inequality and inequality between different classes of society. In the story ‘Tomorrow Is Too Far’ the author highlights that how her grandmamma treats her and brother differently. Her grandmamma taught her brother Nonso how to pluck the coconuts but not her. Because ‘girls never plucked coconuts’. Nonso was always given the first sip of coconuts and grandmamma cooked meals with him in mind, not his sister. Nonso’s sister was told instead ‘this is how you will take care of your husband one day’. And also her mother used to end her brother’s nightly goodnight ‘ho-ho-ho’ laughing, but never left her room laughing. That’s all because Nonso is grandmama’s ‘sons only son, who would carry on the Nnabuisi’ name. This demonstrates that the importance of name and that these beliefs lead to gender inequality. The author also shows the negative impact of gender inequality.

In the short story “Saving Sourdi” it shocked me at first to know that some marriages are still arranged here today in America. I had to read the story back because to understand the struggle Nea and her family has from moving from the homeland to America trying to attain the American Dream. Nea’s and her sister had a great relationship while they were growing up but because Sourdi is older and more mature she harsh realities of the world before Nea. Nea is to young to understand such changes in the world because from a young age she was promised happiness but lost hope as she moved from place to place. Having a sister I can relate to Nea anxiously want to drive to her sister house in the middle of the night to make sure she is alright.

A young man from an Igbo village meets a young Ibibio woman in the city of Lagos, Nigeria. They have fallen in love and intend to marry. The young woman wants the young man to send a letter to his father telling him of their engagement. The young man is hesitant because he knows his father has already arranged for him to marry a young Igbo woman from his village, in accordance with traditional customs. Instead, he goes home to the village to inform his father in person.

Achebe also illustrates the Ibo judiciary and political system throughout the entire story. Similar to those in other cultures, the Ibo people had a very structured social order. In the beginning of the story on page 18, Achebe describes Nwakibie’s status in the Ibo village by stating he, “…had taken the highest but

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor and critic. He is mainly known for his trilogy that investigates, using fiction, the history of Nigeria. The trilogy begins with Things Fall Apart, followed by No Longer at Ease and ended with Arrow of God. Furthermore, in this critically analytical essay, through a feminist perspective, a chapter of his second novel, No Longer at Ease, published in 1960, will be discussed. The setting of the novel is Lagos, Nigeria and Umuofia, Nigeria during the 1950s, before Nigeria attained independence from Great Britain. The novel, No Longer at Ease begins with Obi Okonkwo on trial, charged for accepting a bribe. However, using flashback, the author takes us back to the point before Obi’s departure

‘Marriage is a private affair’ is a short story written by Chinua Achebe, in the year 1952. The story takes place in Lagos in Nigeria in the 1950ies. The most important point in this story is the cultural and religious differences between Nene and Nnaemeka’s families. Therefor the main theme of the text is the clash between two cultures. The text is also dealing with other subthemes such as, love, arranged marriage, father and son relationship (Nnaemeka’s respect for his father) and of course family. The title of the story says a lot, because it pretty much sums up the message of the story. Chinua Achebe is with his story trying to point out that marriage is a private affair, and no one

Achebe argues how we limited ourselves to only one point of view of the world. When we do that we don’t see what else is out there, if people/culture are different it doesn't make them weird or that they are doing it wrong they just see the world in their eye different than we see it. Achebe wrote in Things Fall Apart, The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.” What I think when I heard that is one man gold is another man's treasure. That we all take different things and view from this world we live in. In things fall apart the tribe of Igbo believe that a man is rich and powerful when he has many wifes and can take of all of them and there

Achebe’s image of the African people is depicted extensively in his novel. Achebe gives us a look at life in an African village and what it was like during African colonialism. Tribal life in Nigeria is told from an inside perspective through the life story of a man, Okonkwo.

When a man wanted to marry a woman, he had to pay the bride price to her relatives if htey accepted him. Each day, the wives had to prepare their own dishes for their husbands and would have to obey them for whatever reason. Although their order might go against the wives' will, they could not question their husbands because it's against the cultural traditions. When a child was born, it belonged to its father and his family instead of the mother's because the man was the head of the family and the wife was always supposed to obey his command. But when a man was in an exile, he  would have to return to his mother's kinsmen until the period of exile was over . Furthermore, when a woman died, she was taken home to burry with her own kinsmen and not with her husband's. Chinua Achebe described these customs clearly in the story because they revealed the distinctness of the Igbo women at that time and these traditions made the story more appealing to the readers.

This paper reflects the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. Achebe gives an overview of pre-colonialism and post-colonialism on Igbo, detailing how local traditions and cultural practices can “fall apart” in some scenarios through some introduced, externally created hassles elevated because of colonization. The protagonist named Okonkwo mentioned in the story is a proof showing the lifestyle of the tribe. My main objective and focus is to lay emphasis on Africa specifically the Igbo society, before and after the arrival of the Europeans in Umuofia community; the results of their arrival concerning Igbo culture, thus leading to the clash of cultures between the two categories. I will also draw on post-colonialism with respect to globalization.

More than those of any other African writer, Chinua Achebe’s writings have helped to develop what is known as African literature today. And the single book which has helped him to launch his "revolution" is the classic, Things Fall Apart.  The focus of this essay includes: 1) Achebe's portraiture of women in his fictional universe, the existing sociocultural situation of the period he is depicting, and the factors in it that condition male attitudes towards women; 2) the consequences of the absence of a moderating female principle in his fictions; 3) Achebe's progressively changing attitude towards women s roles; and 4) feminist prospects for African women. In the context of this study, the Igbo people whom Achebe describes will

Thanks to the characters described by Adichie, there are important questions to be raised concerning love and marriage: If today’s man or woman wants to get married, for what reason will he or she walk down that aisle? Is it just a means to an end? Is it the mere fulfilment of societal demands?

The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta follows the story of Aku-nna, a young girl from the Ibo people of Nigeria, who reaches the marrying age after her father’s death. While anticipated to bring in a large sum of money from marriage, she refuses to date any of the suitors presented to her, instead choosing her lover, a descendant of slaves, and bringing dishonor upon her family. A suitor then kidnaps her, but she manages to escape him and elope with her lover; she eventually dies in childbirth with their conceived daughter. In the novel, Nigerian culture, specifically of the Ibo people, establishes a patriarchal society. Because of this, women are treated as inferior, as evident by expectations and marriage/dating customs that infringe upon their freedom and dignity. The role of women in Ibo society is demonstrated in The Bride Price by the expectations to be obedient under the ownership of older males, to fulfil motherhood as early and fruitfully as possible, to abide by menstrual hygiene rules, to be pure through chastity, and to follow such standards or else bring shame upon their family.