One of the themes of Chinua Achebe's "Marriage Is a Private Affair" is that people living in the modern world should be able to overcome old cultural differences. In this case, it is the cultural taboo of intermarriage between people from different ethnic groups in the African nation of Nigeria. Because Nnaemeka decides to reject his father's wishes that he marry within the tribe, his marriage to Nene, an Ibibio girl from outside the group,...
One of the themes of Chinua Achebe's "Marriage Is a Private Affair" is that people living in the modern world should be able to overcome old cultural differences. In this case, it is the cultural taboo of intermarriage between people from different ethnic groups in the African nation of Nigeria. Because Nnaemeka decides to reject his father's wishes that he marry within the tribe, his marriage to Nene, an Ibibio girl from outside the group, is shunned by not only his father but others from the Ibo ethnic group. After being married eight years and having two sons, Nene writes a letter to Okeke, Nnaemeka's father, telling him that his grandsons have insisted "on being taken to him." She argues that she finds it difficult to reveal to them that he will not see them and that he has disowned his son and renounced the marriage.
At the end of the story, Achebe suggests that the letter will eventually bring the family back together. After reading the letter, rain and lightning hit the village where Okeke lives, symbolic of the storm in his heart. While he attempts to put his grandsons out of his mind, he knows he is "fighting a losing battle." In the final lines, Okeke is afraid that he will never make it up to his son. Even though the conflict is not overtly resolved, the ending is a hopeful indication that the old prejudices can be forgotten and that family is stronger than cultural prohibitions.
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