Review: Arranger Of Marriage By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

It is amazing how literary writers can convey their messages using a few pages, words, or lines. Have you ever read a short story or a poem; whether it is a sonnet or a shorter version, like a limerick—and then appreciated the beauty of literature? You start to ask yourself questions; how can someone put so much emotions, thoughts and ideas into just a few pages or lines? The beauty and joy of discovering gems while flipping through pages is one of the reasons why I am obsessed with the literary world. Literary works are filled with numerous gems, waiting to be discovered and recently, I discovered one; a short story.

In my last post in the Hive book club community, I shared about how I have been focusing on Nigerian books. From time to time, my reading interests change. One moment I might be interested in reading romantic books, and the next, I fall out of reading romantic books, and start reading gothic novels or another genre. I wouldn’t say I easily get tired of genres, instead, I’ll put it that I always discover new and interesting genres. Over the past 3 months, my reading lifestyle has been solely focused on Nigerian books and that is because I am currently taking a course on Nigerian Literature. Basically, we are exploring works by Nigerian writers; from poetry to play text and novels. Today, I’ll be reviewing one of the short stories I recently read.

As I mentioned earlier, I find it fascinating how writers can explore a broad topic using a few pages or lines (as in the case of poetry). This past week, I read about 4 short stories by Nigerian writers and one that stands out is Arranger of Marriage by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Chimamanda is one of the Nigerian writers who is making rounds in the literary world. She is famously known for her works Americanah and Purple Hibiscus. I have read quite a lot of books by Chimamanda that are good, and I knew this short story by her would be no exception.

As the title of the short story foreshadows, "The Arranger of Marriages" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie focuses on the life of Agatha, a woman who found herself in an arranged marriage. Agatha's parents died, and ever since, she grew up with her aunt and uncle. They took care of basically everything in her life. Agatha's aunt and uncle, without considering Agatha's opinion, arranged a marriage for her with Dave, an American doctor. Apparently, they thought that since he was a doctor in America, he would have the means to take care of Agatha, and Agatha would, in turn, pay them back for raising her. Little did they know that there was more to Dave's story.

Although Agatha didn’t want to go with Dave, she had no choice. She couldn’t refuse her aunt and uncle, After All they had made sacrifices for her. When Agatha got to America, she realized Dave wasn’t the hot guy her uncle and aunt thought he was. He wasn’t a fully fledged doctor yet, but an intern who lived in an apartment with almost empty furniture. She also realized that Dave is married to an older white woman who gave him his green card. Will Agatha return to her country or will she stay with Dave despite realizing the truth about him? Read the short novel to find out.

Some time ago, I came across tweets on X about people saying that if things don’t go well, they would prefer an arranged marriage. In some cultures in my country, especially in the northern part, arranged marriage is the norm. I can’t help but wonder why this is the case. Why would you choose to get married to someone you barely know? What if you don’t like the way he snores? What if you don’t like the way she eats? There are lots of questions to be asked. I’m pretty sure if Agatha had a choice and had known that Dave was not who he claimed to be, she wouldn’t have followed him. Sometimes appearances can be deceptive.

Images in this post are mine.

Thanks for reading.

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