in both "Marriage is an affair" and "A meeting in the dark," young men fret that their fathers with disapprove of their potential wives. Compare these two stories by looking at how the personalities of the young men and their fathers help to shape the eventual outcomes

Two short stories that address marriage are “Marriage is a Private Affair” by Chinua Achebe and “A Meeting in the Dark” by Ngugi wa Thiong’o. These two short stories have several similarities along with some differences. For example, both stories are about young men who fear their fathers’ disapproval of their potential wives. However, these two men have very different relationships with their fathers and their fathers are have very different temperaments. The two men are also in different situations. However, their problem is the same. The difference in the fathers and the father-son relationships are what make these stories different. The fathers in these two short stories were very different. Nnaemeka’s father was bent on tradition but was kind at heart. Nnaemeka and his father got along as seen in the quotation (quote). The father like Nnaemeka and they had a good relationship until Nnaemeka decided to marry a non-Ibo. Instead of having a traditional arranged marriage he was marrying a girl from a non-Ibo family. While John’s father was self-righteous and judgmental. John was scared of his father as you can see in the excerpt, (quote). They did not have a good relationship at all, and John did not want to stir up his father’s wrath any more than it already was. The difference in personalities and the father-son relationships shaped the stories. For example, “Marriage is a Private Affair” had a happy ending because Nnaemeka’s father was king at heart and his love overcame his prejudice and zeal for tradition. While “A Meeting in the Dark” has a terrible end because John’s fear of his father’s anger drove him to horrible acts so as no to incur his father’s righteous wrath.

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