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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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IVORY BANGLES BY ERIC NG'MARYO - TANZANIAAbout the Author- Ng'maryo
Eric Ng'maryo is a published poet who has written poems such as Escape and The Journey of Us. Although he is a practicing advocate in Tanzania, he is also respected for his creative writings which include the short story 'Ivory Bangles'
Points to guide interpretation of the story
THE TITLE 'IVORY BANGLES'
The title captures the bangles that the wife wears- Twenty-four ivory bangles that were gifted to her by the old man on the day their firstborn and now only son was named.
The Ivory bangles thus are a symbol of love that the wife enjoys from the old man.
The title also signifies the human-wildlife conflict that exists. For the old man to carve the bangles for his wife, he had to shoot an elephant with a poisoned arrow to get the ivory he used.
CHARACTERS
a. The old man
SYNOPSIS
'Ivory bangles' by Eric Ng'maryo portrays a society rooted in some traditional practices that whoever departs from them ends up suffering some calamity. The story begins with a troubled old man moving towards his house. Although his body moves, his thoughts are disturbed by the seer's words.
The old man had consulted the seer after noticing traces of blood in the goat's liver that he had slaughtered. The people believed that such an occurrence was a bad omen, so the old man consulted the tribal seer.
The seer discloses that pebbles demand that he has to give his wife the ritual beating. However, the old man is hesitant to beat his wife, whom he much loves, as is seen from the fact that he had gifted her with twenty-four Ivory bangles that she adorns throughout.
We learn of the old man's life with his wife in the past through several flashbacks. We learn of his refusal to marry another wife even after he is made the chief's councillor, and the chief advises him to do so. The chief appreciates her attractiveness in another flashback as she is adorned in twenty-four ivory bangles.
The old man tells the chief that he carved the ivory bangles for herself using the ivory he shot from the elephant using a poisoned arrow.
When he gets home, his wife warmly receives him and his attempts to disclose the seer's message do not succeed until much later in the night. The wife asks him to have his meal first, and after the two enjoy an intimate moment. When he later discloses the pebbles' message to his wife, she comes up with a scheme on how to cheat the pebbles.
The following day, the old man goes to work while the wife goes to the market, where she hears people talking about a herd of elephants approaching the plains. She strategizes on the things she would do before faking her beating and going back to her brother's home. On her way home, she hears cries from scouts who warn people to beware of the approaching herd of six elephants led by a giant bull.
After getting home, the wife prepares a meal for her husband and decides to go till a piece of the grove that the husband had said was weedy. Unfortunately, she is killed by the bull elephant that catches her unaware. The people find her in a shallow grave after being crushed by the elephant. Her ivory bangles are also shattered. Her foreshadowed death is a lesson that failing to heed wise advice can lead to a disastrous outcome.
EPISODIC ANALYSIS OF KEY ISSUES
Episodes
TRADITIONS
Believe in the seer The old man visits the seer, considered a priest of the people (Pg. 21). He goes to the seer because of his superstitious nature. He had to consult the seer since he had noted blood specks on the liver of a goat that he had slaughtered (pg. 21). Ritual beating/molesting of wife When the old man visits the seer, the pebbles disclose that the spirits were jealous of a happy wife, a woman unmolested by the husband until old age (pg. 21). It is not acceptable for a wife to enjoy a comfortable life with her husband in this community.
The husband is thus expected to molest his wife to ensure that she does not enjoy happiness. Failure to do so would lead to a disastrous outcome as the pebbles foretell the wife's death. The pebbles demand that the old man give his wife a thorough beating (ritual beating) and then send her back to her parents (pg. 22). Although the man tries to seek an alternative way to appease the spirits, like offering several goats, the pebbles insist that he must give a wife thorough beating and send her to her parents after the beating.
The tradition of wife-beating/molestation is further seen through the old man's son. Unlike his father, the son had embraced the culture of wife battering, something that bothers his mother moments before her death. She is weeding the weed- infested grove when she remembers they had weeded the same patch only three weeks before, together with her daughter-in-law Leveri. She reminisces how her son had beaten Leveri to 'a fingernail's distance to her grave' (pg. 25). This shows the violent nature of her son and how traditional he was since he embraced wife- beating. Naming of children
The naming of children is seen as an essential practice. We learn that the twenty- four ivory bangles that the wife wears were gifted to her when their only son was given a name (pg. 23).
The value of child naming is also seen because the old man's grandson is named after him. The writer refers to the young boy as her 'husband' (pg. 23). Polygamy and its effects
The tradition of polygamy and its value comes out during the moments shared by the old man and his wife. After serving him his evening meal, the wife patronises the old man by calling him the son of a chief. The writer explains the position held by the old man - the chief's councillor (pg. 22).
This position makes him a respected man. It, however, raises some debate as people talk much about him since he is monogamous. This is seen where the writer says, 'He still was the chief's councillor, much respected, but also much talked about because he had only one wife....' (Pg.22). His monogamous status was a concern for the ageing chief, who told him to get another wife (pg.23). This shows that the old man's society values the tradition of polygamy, and one who does not engage in it is considered a failure.
The old man, however, holds a differing opinion about polygamy. His response to the chief via a riddle shows his view of polygamy:
A woman went to the riverside Tie woman wanted to fetch water The woman had one water pot The woman arrived at the water point The woman found another water pot The woman came back with a pot The woman brought a water pot with potsherds, not water (Pg. 23 The chief's interpretation of the riddle: "A wife, a co-wife, witchcraft and death" (Pg.23) explains that the old man considers having more than one wife as witchcraft LOVE
The moments shared between the old man and his wife (pg. 22-23) point to their love. The kind of reception the old man receives when he gets home shows how much the wife loves and cares for him. 'His wife come unstrapped his leather sandals and led him behind the house to the lean-to, bathed him and rubbed him with sharp smelling unguent' (pg. 22). Her loving care is further seen when she asks him to have his meal first before they can talk about what the husband had heard that day (pg. 22).
How the husband addresses the wife also shows that he loves her. Despite her old age, the husband calls her "girl" (pg. 22), a form of endearment. He also appreciates the meal she has cooked for him. "You cook, woman," he thanked, stretching himself and yawning (pg. 22). Their love is also seen from the intimacy they share once the wife joins the old man where he lay. rlhe old man tries to talk her about the demands of the seer, but she ignites his pas leading to an intimate moment. 'He unsprung slowly, when it came, it was like an intricate tattoo on a drum, coming unexpectedly and stopping suddenly, leaving the air quiet and pure.'(Pg. 23). Tie twenty-four ivory bangles that the old man gifted his wife on the day of naming their son also show how much he loved her. Specifically, the eight bangles she wore on either hand were etched with mnemonic marks for a long love poem (pg. 23). HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT
The flashback of the naming ceremony of the old man's wife 'As she moved the twenty-four ivory bangles she wore clanked like many castanets' (pg. 23). Elephants had to be killed to obtain the ivory used to make the bangles.
The truthfulness of this observation is seen when the chief also noted how attractive the old man's wife looked in the many ivory bangles she wore. The old man proudly explains to the chief that he made the bangles himself from the ivory he got when he shot an elephant using a poisoned arrow (pg. 23). Towards the end of the story, people in the marketplace talk about the herd of elephants approaching the plains. They fear the destruction that the herd will cause. They hope that those who know how to use poisoned arrows will save the situation (pg. 24). The ultimate sign ofthe conflict is the death of the old man's wife, who a wounded bull elephant kills. In an ironic turn of events, the old man's wife, whose husband had killed an elephant and used its ivory to make bangles for the wife as a sign of love, ends up killed by a wounded elephant. 'After bashing her on trees and banana plants, the wounded bull elephant put her on the ground and repeatedly stamped on her. They found her thus in a shallow grave: a mass of flesh and blood and shattered ivory bangles.'(pg. 25). The love is shattered by the same creatures whose ivory was used to make symbols of love. FAILURE TO HEED ADVICE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
The seer's advice to the old man who consulted him is that the pebbles demanded a ritual beating of his wife to avert the death of wife. old man is hesitant and offers to give some goats, but the pebbles insist on the beating and send her off to her parents after beating. Instead of heeding the seer's advice, the old man and his wife develop a scheme on how to cheat the pebbles. The wife proposes putting up a show by pretending to have been beaten.
Their failure to follow the demands of the pebbles results in what the seer had foretold-The death of the wife who the wounded bull elephant kills as she is weeding. Although the wife's death is closely linked to the seer's warning, it can also be seen to be due to the wife's recklessness and failure to heed the warnings of the scouts. The wife heard the scouts warning when they noted the elephants were approaching. 'As she slowly made her way home, she heard the cries. They came from scouts who were perched on trees, observing elephants and warning people of the beasts' movement... 'Beware! People Of Mtorobo's homestead! The five she elephants are now in your banana grove! The bull is on the path coming from the stream' (pg. 24-25).
The wife chooses to weed at the groove instead of heeding the warning and staying home. NB: The writer has extensively used flashbacks to help us understand the past life of the old man and his wife.
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