By: Theresa Chermi Legak Rhessma Nawai [TL1113]

Name: Albert Chinualumogu Achebe Date of Birth: 16 November 1930 (82) Nationality: Nigerian Ethnicity: Igbo Occupation: Novelist, poet, professor and critic Religion: Christian Protestant Period: 1958 - present Notable work: (i) First novel; Things Fall Apart (1958) (ii) No Longer at Ease (1960) (iii) Arrow of God (1994) (iv) A Man of the People (1966) (v) Anthill of the Savannah (1987)

Marriage today is a totally private affair

This story is about a man, Nnaemeka who lives in a city in Nigeria,Lagos. There, he met with a teacher, Nene and fell in love with her. After some time, they decided to get married but first he has to ask for his father's consent regarding the marriage. Nene thought that his father would be happy about their marriage but Nnaemeka was worried instead because of his tribe's traditional practice of not allowing sons to choose their own spouses. When he told his father about his intention of marrying Nene, his father was not happy at all. In fact, he already has a choice of woman in his mind to marry his son. Knowing that Nene was not from the Ibo tribe worsened the condition, so he demanded Nnaemeka to marry off the other woman. He kept on asking his father to accept his wife but his father totally rejected her. Nnaemeka chose love over tradition and marry Nene even without his father's blessing. He never came back to his hometown after his marriage and his father thought that he was already dead. Eight years later, his father received a letter from Nene. In the letter, she told him that they were blessed with two sons and they lived happily. She also asked him to accept her, if not his grandsons and asking him to be a part of their lives. This left a big chunk in his heart as he felt shameful and guilty for what he has done. That night, he dreamed of reuniting with his son, getting to know his daughter-in-law and playing with his grandsons.

Time Period - Takes place in present day. Place - Capital of Nigeria, Lagos. - Igbo land. Mood -Worry.

(i)

Nene - A hopeless romantic. -Very much in love and will do anything to make her dream come true.

(i)

Nnaemeka - Worried about the relations between his fiance and his father. - Chose love over tradition. Okeke - Firmly believes in the ancient traditions. - Very stern, and a lot of time cold towards his son.

(i)

1.
(b)

CULTURAL THEORY
(a)

Arranged Marriage Igbo tribe vs. Ibibio tribe

1.

FEMINISM

(c)

Suppression of womens right (b) Gender bias Modern Women vs. Traditional Women
(a)

Ever since the old days, the Igbo people have been practicing the tradition of arranged marriage. Up to this day, many marriages in the Igbo land are still arranged although many young people are against it. This tradition is portrayed in the story whereby Okeke abides by the tradition and holds strong onto it while Nnaemeka constantly fights for his desire to be with the one that he loves. Thus, this raises conflict between the two of them and deteriorates their father-son relationship.

Yes. They are most unhappy if the engagement is not arranged by them. -Nnaemeka

Besides that, Okeke has also found a suitor for Nnaemeka. We can see the culture of Igbo people in which parents are responsible in choosing their in-laws. Notice that he does not only judge the suitor based on physical appearance alone but also her family background.
I have found a girl who will suit you admirably- Ugoye Nweke, the eldest daughter of our neighbour, Jacob Nweke. She has a proper Christian upbringing. When she stopped schooling some years ago her father (a man of sound judgment) sent her to live in the house of a pastor where she has received all the training a wife could need. -Okeke

This shows that the Igbo culture does not emphasize love in a marriage. To them, continuing the tradition is much more important as they believe that love will sprout later. A perfect marriage is not based on love alone; responsibility comes with it.

I dont love her. Nobody said you did. Why should you? he asked.

In the short story, we can see that the Igbo tribe and the Ibibio tribe are not in good terms and that is the cause of the conflict in this story. Nene is from the Ibibio tribe whereas Nnaemeka is from the Igbo tribe. In the old days, it was a taboo to marry from another tribe. Some conservative parents still hold fast to that tradition. Last time, same-tribe marriages were widely practiced in order to increase the tribes population and retained its purity, also they feared of losing a child to an alien culture.
And this, he added, is not peculiar to the Ibos. If your father were alive and lived in the heart of the Ibibio-land he would be exactly like my father. -Nnaemeka

Their action brought about the consequence of being boycotted and ridiculed by the Ibibio community after they got married. This shows that both tribe could not accept their marriage.
Rather, they paid her such excessive deference as to make her feel she was not one of them -Narrator

In the story, women were seen as people who just need to stay at home and be a good housewife. Since the Igbo culture is a patriarchal community (men over women), women are viewed as weak creatures and should never do things that men do; in this case, having a career. In this story, Nene was a teacher in the Girls School in Lagos. Knowing that she was a career woman- apart from her background- Okeke automatically rejected her to be his daughter-in-law.
Teacher, did you say? If you consider that a qualification for a good wife I should like to point out to you, Emeka, that no Christian woman should teach. - Okeke

According to Okeke, a good wife must be a good Christian and serves her husband well.
What one looks for in a wife are a good character and Christian background. - Okeke

The story shows that the Nigerian women are not treated equally as this can be seen through the way the villagers of Igbo judged the couple. Instead of investigating the matter, they straightly blamed Nene, saying that she had been using medicine to make Nnaemeka fell for her. It shows that the value of women are so low up to the point that they are to be blamed for everything.
But it was her fault. She ought to have gone an honest herbalist. She was a clever woman, nevertheless. - Madubogwu She was a wicked murderess, said Jonathan who rarely argued with his neighbours because he often said they were incapable of reasoning.

In this story, Nene portrays the character of a modern Nigerian woman. She represents the new generation of Nigerian. She is no longer tied to the traditional practices of her tribe. She is more open-minded and thinks in a more different perspective. Meanwhile, Ugoye Nweke(the suitor) is the total opposite of Nene. She is portrayed as one of the traditional women of Igbo. She is the type of woman according to the Igbos stereotype thinking. Like Okeke, she still abides by the old tradition and follows whatever the elders say. She is more narrowed thinking.