A GUIDE TO SILENT SONG AND OTHER STORIES
SOME CULTURAL PRACTICES DO NOT ADD VALUE HENCE SHOULD BE DONE AWAY WITH. SHOW THE TRUTHFULNESS OF THIS ASSERTION BASING ON ERIC NG'MARYO'S 'IVORY BANGLES'. (20 MARKS)Culture keeps people together and governs their way of life thus is important. However, there are some traditions that are of no benefit and in some cases such traditions cause harm to people who continue to embrace them as is the case in Ivory Bangles] For this reason, such traditions should be discarded. Polygamy is one such cultural practice that has continued to be embraced yet it has no value. We realize that the community in the story holds in high esteem this practice. As such, a man who does not ascribe to it is seen to be a topic of discussion: This comes out clear where the old man who is a respected Chief's councillor is talked about because he had only one wife. According to the story, it was unheard-of for someone as powerful as the old man- a small chief, to have only one wife, However, this value is seen to have no value since the old man is happy in his marriage and he really loves his wife to the extent that he gifted her twenty-four ivory bangle Besides, the riddle used by old man when responding to the Chief's demand that he marries another wife shows that polygamy causes harm. The riddle's interpretation A wife, a co-wife, witchcraft and death points to the harmful effects of the practice. As such, polygamy should be abolished as it causes harm and adds no value. Another cultural value that has no value is believe in the seer and the act of seeking his guidance. The old man goes to seek the advice of the seer after noticing some blood specks in the live at he goat that he slaughtered, He does this since his people, believed in him as their tribal seer and their priest. We also see how valued he is when the old man's wife dismisses his demands. The old man harshly rebukes her telling her that the seer is the mouthpiece of their departed fathers, we however {see that this belief does not add value since some of the advices given are bound to cause harm. The advice given to the old man by the seer supports this as the seer tells him 'That the pebbles demand that he beats his wife and send her back to her father's home. According to the seer, the pebbles are jealous of a happy wife- a woman unmolested by her husband. This shows that this believe in the seer is of no benefit but rather causes harm. The superstitious belief that having blood specks in a goat's liver is a sign of something bad about to happen does not add any value, Tris is not based on any proven basis but is just a traditional belief. The old man goes to consult the seer since he had noted some blood specks in the liver of the goat he had slaughtered.
The belief is so strong that the man does not agree with the wife's dismissal of the seer's demands. According to the wife, the seer was hitting back at her for turning down his marriage proposal. This argument that had been used previously does not appear believable at this time as the old man reminds the wife that the seer did not put blood specks on the goat's liver. Wife battering is another cultural practice that the people hold in esteem yet it causes more Karm than good. When the old man consults the Seer about the blood specks in the liver of the goat he had slaughtered, 'the seer's pebble disclose that a wife was going to die since the spirits were jealous of a happy wife, a woman unmolested by her husband until old age. This (Shows the value attached to wife molestation. To avert the death, the old man is asked to give his wife the 'ritual beating before sending her back to her parent's home. Although the old man offers to give a number of goats to avert the catastrophes, the pebbles keep demanding for the ritual beating forcing the old man and the wife to come up with a plan of tricking the pebbles. The harmful effect of the ritual beating is seen through Leveri, the wife to the old man's son. The wife remembers how her daughter-in-law had been beaten to a fingernail's distance to her grave by the son. This shows that the ritual beating can almost cause death hence the reason it should be discarded. Although culture is a glue that holds people together, some of the outdated practices should be gotten rid of as the cause more harm than good.
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