07 August 2012
Marriage
When I was reading about the weddings and the marriages in this book I began to feel sorry for the women back then. Their idea of marriage in their culture is so different than our idea today. It is like an arranged marriage and I know that I would never want that but it is almost like they are buying the bride which I found to be kind of surprising/interesting. What I do like about it is the huge feast they have to celebrate which is sort of like a reception I guess (maybe that is why I like it though because it is more like what we are used to).
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3 comments:
I agree, the marriages are a lot different. In America, men are only allowed to have one wife and they are supposed to remain loyal to that woman. But in Nigeria, men were looked down upon if they didn't have multiple wives. In today's society, men are thrown in jail if they beat their wives. In Nigeria, men beat their wives to keep their power and they were not punished for doing so. It was interesting to read about how different the Nigerian culture is.
I too agree, from what was portrayed in the novel and from what I learned about in history, I always became angered when I learned of how male domintated marriages were in africa, I do understand that the male dominated role in Nigerian marriage is part of their culture, and that we shouldn't question it since we are not apart of that culture, but it still bugs me knowing that a woman could be beaten without justice for herself from her husband. Lastly, I do not like how the husbands in those marriages treat their wives as objects, not people.
The marriages are very different in the novel and I agree that it feels more like the women are being bought. The way that the men are allowed to treat the women, an example being the severity Okonkwo punishes his wives, is a huge shock to me. It is a huge difference compared to the present in America where the focus is equality between partners. I did enjoy being able to see how a different culture behaves and how different people's cultures can be compared to ours.
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