Abigail Snaggs
Professor .Gonzalez
Introduction to Fiction
06 November,2021
The Arrangers of Marriage
The Arrangers of Marriage was based on a young woman being brought to America by her new husband. Their marriage had been arranged by both of their families. His family wanted him to marry a nice African girl and her family wanted her to marry up. What could be better than an American doctor? Her family felt as if they had won the lottery.
Ofodile’s family neglected to mention or was unaware of two things, first, that Ofodile was not yet a doctor. It is very prevalent for immigrants to fabricate details about their jobs. Many of whom work in hospitals as home health aides, CNA or PCT family and friends in their native country believe they are nurses and doctors. In order to convince
them they would send pictures back home dressed in scrubs or lab coats, to validate their claims.
Second, that he was still married to his American wife who had helped him get his papers, this is something common especially with African men.
It has become a norm to ask a male African suitor how many wives do you have? Do you have another wife in your country?
What I like about this story is that I can relate to it, either personally or through someone I know.
Foreigners have an image of America. This image was created by what is seen on television and lies told by those who have migrated to the US. It is not uncommon for them to omit or sometimes lie about the reality in an attempt to impress or give the impression that they too are doing well, enjoying the finer things that America has to offer.
Some of these images are spacious apartments with doormen and houses with manicured lawn and beautifully decorated, nice cars, good food and opportunity to make lots of money.
As an immigrant I understood Chinaza's first impression of her new husband’s apartment. It was not what she had imagined or it was not furnished like the ones she saw on TV. Especially with him being a doctor in America.
I could almost smell her husband’s morning breath when she said it smelled like the rubbish dumps at Ogbete Market. It made me want to chuckle and gag at the same time. This is not what anyone would expect for the first intimate experience with their new husband to smell or feel like.
I had to laugh at Chinazu’s description of the way her new husband’s car ran, not at all what was predicted her husband would be driving in America, after all he was a doctor.
Nice cars or at least better than the ones in poorer countries, is another expectation in America.
I enjoyed the introduction of Nia. I liked her realness. Although she was messy she offered some excitement to Chinaza’s otherwise uneventful life. I really liked her willingness to help a sister get her life together. Nia was her only friend and was able to offer advice and support to Chinaza when she found out that her husband was still legally married to his American wife.
This story brought back memories. It reminded me of tmy first time having a slice of pizza that was supposed to be the best on Pitkin Avenue. I was not impressed with the oily, gooey cheese falling off the pizza because we actually had better pizza in Trinidad. However, after living here for so many years I grew to love it.
I can still recall the many occasions of friends and family also correcting me as Ofodile did with Chinaza when I first came to America. I said things like chips instead of french fries or sweet drinks and biscuits. They would say in “America we say soda and cookies”.
My American friends still laugh when I enter a room and say good night, they would jokingly ask if I was going to sleep.
| Literature Response |
| Criteria |
Ratings |
|
Completeness
|
Very Good
Responds to the question completely
|
|
Knowledge
|
Excellent
The response demonstrates comprehension and clarity of the literature. Key elements and terms are mentioned in the response
|
|
Analysis
|
Excellent
The response provides detailed examples found in the literature that supports the response
|
|
Mechanics
|
Excellent
Sentences are clear, no run-on sentences. Response is stated in complete sentences that are richly developed
|
|
Format
|
Very Good
Formatting is present
|
| Total Points: 23 |
icons at the top right corner of the subsection.