"Yes. They are most unhappy if the engagement is not arranged by them. In our case it's worse—you are not even an Ibo." . . . . In the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city it had always seemed to her something of a joke that a person's tribe could determine whom he married. . . .
. . . "And this," he added, "is not peculiar to the Ibos. If your father were alive and lived in the heart of Ibibio–land he would be exactly like my father."
—"Marriage Is a Private Affair,"
Chinua Achebe
What experiences in Achebe’s life led him to write the story?
As citizen of Nigeria and the US, Achebe was interested in the impact of western culture on Nigerian culture.
As a university professor, Achebe was expected to write about his life in Nigeria.
As an activist, Achebe was trying to change a Nigerian tradition to a western tradition.
As a parent in the US, Achebe’s children had no experience of Nigerian culture.