Rumah Pohon: Juni 2013

Because there is no CRW anymore for the next semester, so I tried to make my final article for CRW as well as I could. And I say WELCOME for the fuckintastic Academic Essay Writing,the awesome subject. Finally, this is my Final CRW.

“Marriage is a Private Affair”

Short Story Analysis

Diana Kurniawati – 111214002

Marriage is a Private Affair by Chinua Achebe (1972) is a short story which tells about social culture in Igboland, Nigeria. The main characters are Okeke, Naemeka, and Nene. Okeke, Naemeka’s father, asks his son to get married with an Igbo woman whom he has chosen. He wants his son to get married with a woman who comes from the same tribe but Naemeka has already chosen Nene, a woman from the city of Logos, as Naemeka’s wife and Nene works as a teacher in Logos. Okeke does not approve their relationship because Nene is not an Igbo and she is a teacher. However, Naemeka cannot fulfill his father expectation. Therefore, Naemeka decides to marry Nene because he really loves her and they decide to stay in Logos. After they are married and has two sons, Okeke still does not accept Nene in his family. At the end of the story, Okeke is only able to feel sad and regret about it in all his life. (Achebe, 1972). From this short story I am going to discuss about the tradition and belief in Igboland.

Chinua Achebe wrote this story based on Igbo’s culture. He grew up in Eastern Nigeria with Christian parents. He was educated in Christian school. His writing usually takes an issue about social, beliefs and religiosity (Harries, 1978). In Igboland, Christianity has a big role in people beliefs and customs; it means that Chinua Achebe lived in Christianity rules and culture. It influences in his short story – Marriage is a Private Affair – which describes Okeke as a person who upholds the culture and belief so that he does not want to betray it. Okeke insists on maintaining the custom that he considers as an important thing to the culture. In this story, Chinua Achebe tries to position himself as Okeke because he respects to his tradition.

Igbo village in Nigeria is a setting of place in this story and from the story the main focus is on the wedding tradition and belief in Igboland. Marriage in Igbo is focused on family so it means that marriage is a ceremony to connect not only two persons but also two families (Wigenbusch,_). In other statement stated that Marriage in Igboland is not only an affair between the husband and wife but also involves the village (Widjaja, 2000). In the story, Okeke, as a father, thinks that the connection of two families is going to be easier if each family comes from the same tribe. It can be easier because each family has the same way to do the ceremony and they have the same tradition of marriage. It is different from today situation that people have learnt about diversity and they try to accept different culture, tradition, and freedom. Therefore, in modern society there are many people from different culture interpret a marriage as their right to decide it. As an individual, they have the right to choose whom they are going to marry with without many rules which limits them. In Naemeka’s point of view about marriage in this story, he shows that marriage is not only about tradition but also feeling. He shows to his father that he is going to be happier if he can live with a woman whom he loves. He chooses Nene because he loves her and assures with his choice although he knows that his father will not accept her. Then, Igbo people also have a belief that a woman is not allowed to work and she should be a house wife as it is written in bible (Widjaja, 2000). Nene, as a modern woman, has a modern thinking about life and she has to survive on working. It occurs different perception between Igbo’s tradition and modern situation. In modern society, as human beings, each person is demanded to be independent and they should be able to protect themselves from the competition in a huge social communities. As a woman who lives in modern way she has to be independent to support herself and her family who live in a city.

In conclusion, Marriage is a Private Affair’s Chinua Achebe shows about the different perceptions of tradition and the way to face life. It sometimes stands over in argument because of the rules of tradition and agrument between two generations. In ancient time, marriage should be based on the tradition and culture which is believed by parents. On the other hand, young generations view marriage is a private affair between two persons who are sure to live together and love each other. In addition, the huge diversity in nationalities and culture in the world often can create an obstacle on people’s relationship because each person wants to save their own culture and perception about tradition. Furthermore, each person has their own way to live their own life. This story shows that a tradition, belief and custom should not determine our future, choice and our right to shape our own future. Marriage is about feeling and private affair, it should not be forced by tradition and let each person to determine their own life because as adults, they have a mature thinking and they are able to decide and design their future.

REFERENCES

Achebe, C. (1972 ).Marriage is a Private Affair. Retrieved from http://prose1.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/45108570/Marriage%20Is%20a%20Private%20Affair.pdf on May 24,2013

Harris, W. (1978).An Image of Africa. Retrieved from http://www.robinsonschools.com/unit2/images/users/jcook/Achebe%20-%20Harris.pdf on May 25, 2013

Widjaja, M. (2000).Traditional Family Ceremonies. Retreived from http://www.igboguide.org/HT-chapter11.htm on June 3,2013

Wigenbusch.( ).Igbo Marriage and Courtship. Retrieved from http://www3.nd.edu/~cvandenb/wilgenbusch.htm on May 25,2013

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