CRITICISM OF MARRIAGE. SATIRE IN "THE TRULY MARRIED WOMAN" N. ABIOSEH.

  

CRITICISM OF MARRIAGE. 'A Silent Song'

Nicol satarizes how Ajayi and Ayoo practice selective obedience to Christian principles. Ayo decides that it was not right for a mother of three to wear white during her wedding. This makes the reader wonder if children make parents impure and how mere symbolic colours are more important than actual true dedication to a christian way of life. To make it worse, Ayo turns down Ajayi's sexual advances claiming that he should wait until after the marriage; because it was not right. This is ubsurd because they have lived together for twelve years and been intimate. 

Abioseh wonders why people get married for ubsurd reasons. The visit by the missionaries and Ayo's protest about the beating of their ten-year old boy for wetting his sleeping mat, made Ayo very  thoughtful. He had earlier on been surprised that Ayo had been attending women's meetings. Even though she had been quiet, he was proud of her for talking of modern ideas of oversees doctors. When he also reminisced over the photo that Olsen had taken for his magazine, he felt like they should marry because millions of Americans would see their picture as " one God-loving  family. His vain nature surprises Ayo, who becomes worried and asks if he was well and and if everything was okay at the office. Ayo gives in after humoroisly declaring that he should not say that she had forced him; although that had been her intent all along. The couple is therefore quite vain and banal in their marital pursuit, as is common in the society.

Many couples like keeping appearance in their relationships. When Ayo is notified that the missionaries are on the way to her house, she borrows a wedding ring from her neighbor. She also takes down calenders with pictures of lightly dressed women and puts up family photographs. This even surprises the chief clerk, together with the ring and dress that Ayo is adorned in.

The writer also exploits the hypocrisy with which the society handles the issue of marriage. Ayo's father makes her move herself and her property back to his house. A very unnecessary move to say the least. The childen were sent to her married sister but she does not accept the idea, out of jealousy. She is worried that Ayo will become more important in the family than her. She therefore asks Ajayi to seek knowledge of the future from a sooth-sayer. In response Ayo fixed thing and the sooth-sayer saw a happy marriage, while avoiding Ayo's sister's eyes. A sinister wonder: the length people go to just to preserve the marriage institution. Omo had often lent Ayoo her wedding ring but she gets jealous when she hears news of the impending wedding. She turned cold. Ajayi borrows lots of money to pay for the music, food and dresses. This irony is quite laughable because he had earlier on criticised Ayo's friends for wild spending and the huge cost of their ceremonies.

The writer reveals how things dramatically change after marriage. Ayo's old aunt advices her not to be too friendly with other women lest they steal her husband. She also asks them to live peacefully and that a wife could be as exciting as a mistress. This alone reveals that the latter seems more prestigious than the former, yet people struggle and consume lots of resources just to get married. She adds that Ajayi should not use violence against his wife. It is a wonder if such a vice could be condoned on a mistress. Ayo seemed different in Ajayi's eyes. Her features seemed accentuated by the newly founded union. Ironically, the next morning, he fails to get his tea as he was accustomed to. He thought that Ayo was unwell. She sarcastically tells him that she has done chores for twelve years and demands to be respected because she is truly married. She orders him to get up and make his own tea. Nicol wonders if the chores are done better by a mistress and if marriage only makes women entitled. Formalizing the marriage shatters his comfort zone, revealing to him a new reality. What a turn of events.

Nicol shows the way most christians preach water and drink wine. Ajayi is a christian but his behavior depicts and uncunny affinity for worldly ways. He has  lived with Ayo for twelve years, yet he explains to his friends that she is just a mistress - and a good one at that.  Despite her patience, beauty and honesty, he never prioritizes a marriage in the pretext that the right moment never came. He begins living with her despite her parent's wishes and only means to marry her after she gives birth to the first child. Despite her hope of getting married the right way, Ajayi criticized her friend's spending until she gives up. Whenever the priest talked against umarried couples living together, he would stay away for a few weeks. This brings out his incorrigible nortion despite being a christian. The writer criticises such a twisted lifestyle by revealing how unpointed it seems in the long run.

What a story!

Do you think Ayo deserves to rest?