Question

Nnaemeka, for his own part, was very deeply affected by his father’s grief. But he kept hoping that it would pass away. If it had occurred to him that never in the history of his people had a man married a woman who spoke a different tongue, he might have been less optimistic. “It has never been heard,” was the verdict of an old man speaking a few weeks later. In that short sentence he spoke for all of his people. This man had come with others to commiserate with Okeke when news went round about his son’s behaviour. –“Marriage Is a Private Affair,” Chinua Achebe Which details from the passage best demonstrate the reliance on tribal traditions in Nigerian society? Check all that apply. “Nnaemeka . . . was very deeply affected by his father’s grief.” “But he kept hoping that it would pass away.” “Never in the history of his people had a man married a woman who spoke a different tongue.” “‘It has never been heard,’ was the verdict of an old man speaking a few weeks later.” “This man had come with others to commiserate with Okeke.”

Answer 1

Answer:

“Never in the history of his people had a man married a woman who spoke a different tongue.”

“‘It has never been heard,’ was the verdict of an old man speaking a few weeks later.”

“This man had come with others to commiserate with Okeke.”

Explanation:

Tribal tradition is a set of actions, customs, rules and activities characteristic for certain communities, spread throughout generations.  

Answer A shows that Nnaemeka's view on his father's grief was a subjective emotion; it wasn't something imposed by tribal tradition.

Answer B shows one universal emotion; hope that sadness would go away. It is completely independent of tribal tradition.

Answers C and D show us a custom by which tribal men only married women from the same tribe, or the ones speaking the same language. Nnaemeka's decision to marry a foreign woman shocked the tribe because it wasn't in accordance with the tradition.

Answer E shows us a custom where tribal people come to the grieving person to sympathize with him. It is usually done in times of big loses, misfortunes, death of a family member, or in this case because of Nnaemeka's decision.

Answer 2

Answer:

“Never in the history of his people had a man married a woman who spoke a different tongue.”

“‘It has never been heard,’ was the verdict of an old man speaking a few weeks later.”

“This man had come with others to commiserate with Okeke.”

Explanation: