marriage
Is choice on who to marry an important issue for those who are seeking marriage?This question has a variety of different answers as they can differ immensely from culture to culture. Two opposing views of marriage, and the steps leading to it, are related about in Gary Soto's "Finding a Wife" and Ved Mehta's "Pom's Engagement". "Finding a Wife" describes the notion of western love and the idea of free choice. Contrasting with this theory is "Pom's Engagement," which proposes the idea of arranged marriages in the Indian culture. Although these stories contradict in many aspects of how to come about marriage, they both have their share of strengths, along with weaknesses. Shouldn't marriage be as easy as saying "I want to marry you" (Soto, 75)? Mr. Soto certainly believes so, as he depicts his story of the virtues of happiness through love at first sight. As Mr. Soto is walking down the sidewalk to his apartment, he sees a "Japanese woman . . . cracking walnuts on her front porch" (Soto, 75). After he passes by the young woman, Mr. Soto realizes that "what [he] needs [is] a woman" (Soto, 76). Soon after this incident, Mr. Soto walks past her porch so often that they begin to have daily conversations, eventually leading to
These ties can bring a couple closer together resulting in true happiness Unlike "Finding a Wife", "Pom's Engagement" forces the issue of marriage upon a teenager who most likely has never had previous dating experiences to know how to work through the rough times of a relationship. Soto could have "married another and been unhappy" (Soto, 77). It is this feeling that Gary Soto is trying to portray to his readers; that life should be taken day by day, moment by moment, expecting !something new around the corner, and being able to make daily decisions on one's own, especially the decision to marry. No one can say which system is better than the other, as there are many different marriage arrangements around the world. In this marriage arrangement Pom will be the one that will have to "sacrifice for him" when a problem comes about between the two (Mehta, 83). He is able to take this woman by the hand and say, "Carolyn, I love you!" Foremost, Mr. Western love has the strengths of choice and individual thought. It's not an act but a lifelong process" (Mehta, 82). These two stories and authors have conflicting views about the steps toward taking one's hand for eternity. The story "Pom's Engagement" by Ved Mehta begins with Papaji explaining that by "right and tradition the oldest daughter has to be given marriage first" at around the age of nineteen (Mehta, 79). snacking on "sandwiches that were thick as Bibles" (Soto, 76). Although this form of traditional love has its upsides, it can have many setbacks as well.
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Acceptance Essays
