There are two Biblical allusions in Chinua Achebe's short story "Marriage Is a Private Affair." An allusion is a reference to a statement, person, place or event that is known from literature, history, religion, myth or politics. In this case the allusions are to verses in the New Testament. When Nnaemeka describes Nene to Okeke, he brags that she is a good Christian and a teacher at a girls' school in Lagos. The father is unimpressed, noting that in his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul said that women should keep silent in the church. The actual verse is Corinthians 14:34 and it indeed forbids women from speaking in the church:
Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. (King James Version, Corinthians 14:34)
Whether it...
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denies women from teaching is unclear, but Okeke holds this against Nene. Of course, his real objection to Nnaemeka's marriage to Nene is because of prejudice. Nene is not from the Ibo tribe of Nnaemeka and Okeke, and so is outside their ethnic group. That his son would marry outside the group is abhorrent to Okeke. The episode also reinforces Achebe's theme of new against old and modern society's refusal to adhere to the old traditions and ways of thinking.
Another Biblical allusion in the story is a reference to Mark 13:12 where it is said that children will rise against their parents:
Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. (King James Version, Mark 13:12)
In this case, one of the men from Okeke's village says, "Sons shall rise against their fathers; it is their in the Holy Book." The man is referring to Nnaemeka's disregard for his father's feelings about his interethnic marriage. In fact, Nnaemeka's marriage is a hot topic in Okeke's village, making the word "Private" in the story's title quite ironic.