A review of:
Arranged Marriage and the Vanishing Roots
by Dr. Oliver Akamnonu
Arranged Marriage and the Vanishing Roots presents a matter of fact view of the division between three generations. The first generation consists of a hardworking man and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Eberechi, who represents all grandparents. In contrast, the second generation consists of the children of the grandparents, Paul and Peter Eberechi, who represent those who are resolute to leave the land of their forefathers. From their point-of-view, the extreme comparison of Africa and America that occur within the text are enough to stay in America. The last generation consists of the children of these children, who never gain the opportunity to indulge in their parents’ culture. These children grew up in America with little knowledge of their African culture. Written in the third person omniscient objective narrative through the use of many repetitious phrases, this literary piece invites the reader to empathize with the first generation, regardless of the fact that the conflicts present in the text are directly a cause of the parents’ actions. Although, perhaps, the reader empathizes more with the intention of the parents than the outcome of their actions.
Diverging from the typical, Dr. Akamnonu begins his story with a synopsis in the form of a poem in the prologue. In this synopsis, the central theme of vanishing roots and the disservice done to the youngest generations is critically analyzed. The concluding chapter parallels the prologue in the same way. His assertions are such that our very being revolves around our home country, and to rid the young of the knowledge of our mother tongue and the culture of our forefathers would be to rid them of the very core of themselves. To prove the assertions that he makes, Dr. Akamnonu presents the reader with two very dissimilar cases, even if only differing in the cause of the vanishing roots.
The Essay on The Day The Children Vanished PACTS Analysis
The theme is the author’s reason for writing the story. This message or main thought presented by the author is usually based on their beliefs and principles. The main thought being communicated by the author of “The Day The Children Vanished’ is the psychology of how people react in the face of fear and anxiety. This main thought is established, developed, and enhanced through ...
The first case is presented to us as Mr. Eberechi’s sons. Growing up, Peter and Paul appear to be model children, excelling in class and following the customs of the land, but their attitude changes as soon as they leave their motherland. In truth they only leave at the urging of their beloved father, who recognized the importance of education (being illiterate) and wanted only the best for his twin sons. The father’s mistake, however, was to send them on their own into a land of different customs and temptations. Herein lays the reason for blaming the parents. It was this lack of foresight that caused Peter and Paul Eberechi, sons of Ebere Million, so named for his millions of dollars, to run wild in America. Gambling, drinking, and partying soon became the twin’s most revered social activities. They continued in this pattern for the duration of their lives, because the money they spent to participate in these activities belonged to their father. They did not know the satisfaction of reaping the benefits for something that was well sowed with blood, sweat, and tears in a nation of political unrest and destitute people. Of course, if they had been one of those that were destitute, they wouldn’t have gone to America in the first place.
However, they were surprisingly smart with their choice of tactics to guarantee that the money that fed their lifestyle would continue to arrive. This meant that the fundamental requirement of being in America, to gain education, must be met. So they just barely graduated college, after repeated effort. In the process, the twins took advantage of the loose culture of America, and procured wives and children with these wives. Granted, the ultimate deciding factor to marry these women was largely due to the children, but they could blame it on love to, since they had no intention to leave their wives. Later, when they had met this requirement, but their father wanted them to complete a second requirement, there was an extreme amount of unrest between father and sons. Mr. Eberechi had asked that they marry within the traditions of their culture, basically meaning: arranged marriage with cultural rites. The twins smartly pointed out that they already had wives whom they loved, so they couldn’t possibly accept wives in their motherland. The twins had changed with America and had no wish to return to poverty stricken Africa, where they were considered little more than princes. In the end, they did their father’s biding, after much bribery from the latter.
The Essay on The Women Of Colonial Latin America
The women of Colonial Latin America The women of Colonial Latin America faced an epidemic unlike any other, Men. Since the men had come to Latin America for conquest they did not bring their women with them. The men battled plagues, natives, weather and each other. Most of them died, the ones that survived looked to the Indian native women for wives. Indian women had limited say in their ...
In view of this Dr. Akamnonu introduces the reader to the new wives, Adaku and Uzoma , who seem to be inconsequential characters, presented only to prove the ignorant greed of Peter and Paul. Yet the legal wives that the twins married in America were the ultimate inconsequential characters. Peter and Paul married Adaku and Uzoma, respectively, and high tailed it right back to the land of the free. The twins thought that they could manage having two wives each that were separated by an ocean between continents. They did not think of the deliberate decision of their father to make these wives college graduates. In other words, Adaku and Uzoma were not the type of women that would wait forever for their husband ignorantly believing the promises given out of greed. Eventually, they lost all contact with their motherland and subsequently their family and wives. Two years after their marriage to Ebere Million’s sons, Adaku and Uzoma performed the traditional divorce of their land, by returning the bride price and the gifts offered to them by their in-laws.
It is then that the second case is carefully crafted, that of Adaku and Theodore Evans, or Oga Theodore; the man from America. Mr. Theodore was the messenger that told Adaku and Uzoma the truth about their lying scheming spoiled and greedy husbands. It was in light of their husband’s situation that they made the decision to obtain a divorce. In a twist of fate, Adaku and Theodore fall in love, and promptly marry. They marry in the traditional sense and also in the legally binding sense, which the twins had not done. Theodore, to finalize the marriage, marries Adaku in Houston, Texas also; where a shocked Peter and Paul Eberechi are made aware of their divorce. Theodore did everything that Peter had failed to do with Adaku, because the marriage with Adaku allowed Theodore Evans the freedom to display his great generous spirit. The towns surrounding their home in Africa were blessed, because the Evans always gave freely. Even when their daughter was born they blessed the town in the name of their daughter. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and so it was that the Evans never returned to spend any large quantity of time in Africa. They had a very good reason for this: there had been an attempted assassination on the man wealthier than Ebere Million.
The Term Paper on Second Language and Old Man
Summary: The poet here talks about the affects of colonization or globalization for that matter. Whatever the case she addresses a sudden change in the way society thinks and how we should try to preserve it. She also talks about the loss of culture that comes with globalization and the loss of part of our history as we reject the teachings of the old culture and of our old heritage. It could be ...
In both of these cases, the narrator makes it extremely clear that the children growing up in America were subject to learning and living with the English language and following the American customs. They did not learn the language of their parents, because the parents deliberately discontinued teaching them. With the twins, it was a matter of not getting caught talking with their second wives at home, while with the Evans it was a matter of need. While the Evans child needed knowledge of the Igbo language in Africa to interact with her peers, she did not need the Igbo language in America, so they did not learn it. To contrast these ill-founded beliefs, the narrator juxtaposes these couples with the neighbors that are Mexican, Chinese, Korean, and Indian whose children spoke both English and the native language. In truth the African children had lost a major part of their roots, and so the narrator grieves for them. As De. Akamnonu states, “These and others were escalating maladies which with time if unchecked may translate as the new cancer that will erode what remains of the underdeveloped world. Whatever the etiology, the end results were to be the same. A fortunate or unfortunate demise for the era of arranged marriage has dawned on us. A generation of the vanishing roots has been entrenched and will never be the same again.”
All in all, this literary piece should be on most people’s MUST READ list.
