Student Question
Why is the changing weather significant in "Marriage is a Private Affair"?
Quick answer:
The changing weather in "Marriage is a Private Affair" reflects the characters' emotions and the story's mood, a technique known as pathetic fallacy. Initially, the setting sun symbolizes the darkness in Nnaemeka's relationship with his father after he is disowned. At the story's end, a thunderstorm signifies a cathartic moment for Nnaemeka's father, mirroring his remorse and the potential for reconciliation as he reflects on his estranged grandchildren.
Chinua Achebe uses the weather in this story to reflect the moods of the characters and the mood of the story. This is a technique known as pathetic fallacy. For example, when Nnaemeka returns home to tell his father about his engagement, Achebe tells us that the meeting takes place "when the parching December sun had set." The setting of the sun marks the beginning of the night, and thus symbolizes the onset of a period of metaphorical darkness in the relationship between Nnaemeka and his father. Indeed, Nnaemeka is disowned by his father when he tells him that the woman he is engaged to marry is from a different tribe.
At the end of the story, after years have passed without reconciliation between father and son, the father receives a letter from Nnaemeka's wife. In the letter, Nnaemeka's wife describes her two sons. Upon reading this letter, Nnaemeka's father feels his resolve "falling in." The mention of his two grandchildren seems to make him remorseful. Indeed, he wonders to himself how and why he has "shut his door against them." At this point in the story, Achebe writes that the sky is "overcast with heavy black clouds and a high wind beg(ins) to blow." It then begins to rain "in large sharp drops," and the rain is followed by "the lightning and thunder which mark the changing of season." The thunderstorm here symbolizes the moment of catharsis for Nnaemeka's father. He is finally able to let go of his pride and his disappointment, and this is mirrored by the storm bursting from the sky.
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