Marriage is a private affair PDF

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Its an entailment of marriage being a secretive affair...

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MARIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR

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MARRIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR

A SUMMARY OF THE SHORT STORY ‘MARRIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR’ BY CHINUA ACHEBE Nnaemeka, a young Ibo man living in the metropolitan city of Lagos, Nene and Okeke are the main characters in this short story. At the beginning of the story, Nnaemeka is engaged to Nene. Later in the story, the author reveals that the two got married and had two sons (Achebe, 2003). In this story, there is a clash between the tradition and modernity. Nnaemeka, who is an Ibo man, falls in love with Nene and gets engaged to her. Back in the village, Okeke, father to Nnaemeka, is arranging for a marriage between his son and his neighbor’s eldest daughter, Ugoye. Nnaemeka is afraid of informing his father that he is already engaged but Nene tries to convince him to do so. He eventually decides he will inform him when he visits for leave as it would be disrespectful to inform him through a letter (Achebe, C. (2003). Later, when he tells his father that he is already engaged and cannot marry Ugoye, his father gets furious with him. He effortfully tries to convince his son to change his mind but all his efforts are rendered futile. He refuses to meet his son’s fiancé and cuts ties with the him. What pains Okeke more is the fact that his son has gotten engaged to a teacher, something against the holy book according to St. Paul. When His son finally sends him their wedding photo later, he gets angry and decides to mutilate in and send it back.

MARRIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR Nnaemeka and his wife are stigmatized for their action back in the city by some of their friend and colleagues, but they eventually get accepted. they even appear to have a more successful marriage than most of their friends. Information on their successful marriage goes far and wide into the Ibo village, but does not reach his father, who is still full of grief and anger (Achebe, 2003).

When Nnaemeka and his wife finally decides to inform their sons about their grandpa, the children gets excited and eagerly want to meet him. Nene decides to write to request her father-in-law to allow her husband to take the kids to him. She knows very well that the man resents her and offers to stay behind. Okeke is torn between accepting his grandsons and his pride on receiving the letter. The gist of the story: The gist of the story is the clash between tradition and modernity. In the story, even thought most characters are still Christians, they interpret the scriptures to defend the toxic masculinity. Okeke does not accept anything short of him arranging for his son’s marriage. He also has a certain set of qualities he expects a good wife to have. As much of a tradition Okeke is, he does not tolerate the idea of consulting an herbalist to help his son who some elders claim has been bewitched. The fact that Nnaemeka and Nene have a more successful marriage is a clear indication that people should be allowed to choose their spouses. Secondly, Love should be an important factor to consider when entering into a marriage.

MARRIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR

Work Cited Achebe, C. (2003). Marriage Is a Private Affair. World Literature. Ed. Joe Smith. New York: Prentice Hall, 1202-05....