ADABAH K.- LITERATURE 1

AR/ENS/15/0006 Page 1
MARRIAGE AS A MEANS OF ESCAPE IN BESSIE HEAD’S THE
COLLECTOR OF TREASURES, OUSMANE SEMBENE’S XALA, AND
NGUGI AND NGUGI’S I WILL MARRY WHEN I WANT
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
FACULTY OF ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
CHARLES KATEY ADABAH (STUDENT)
charleskatey@ymail.com
Girgis, S., Robert P. G., & Ryan T. A. (2012) in their article “What Is Marriage”, consider
marriage from two competing views:
Conjugal View: Marriage is the union of a man and a woman who
make a permanent and exclusive commitment to each other of the
type that is naturally (inherently) fulfilled by bearing and rearing
children together. The spouses seal (consummate) and renew their
union by conjugal acts—acts that constitute the behavioural part of
the process of reproduction, thus uniting them as a reproductive
unit. Marriage is valuable in itself, but its inherent orientation to
the bearing and rearing of children contributes to its distinctive
structure, including norms of monogamy and fidelity. This link to
the welfare of children also helps explain why marriage is
important to the common good and why the state should recognize
and regulate it (1).
Revisionist View: Marriage is the union of two people (whether of
the same sex or of opposite sexes) who commit to romantically
loving and caring for each other and to sharing the burdens and

benefits of domestic life. It is essentially a union of hearts and
minds, enhanced by whatever forms of sexual intimacy both
partners find agreeable (1).
Marriage, as the first institution ordained by God, is revered by all and sundry. In fact,
society sees marriage as a prestige for women, and that if one is not married at a certain age, one
is ‘branded’ and given certain names in society. Although marriage couples are revered in
African society, not everybody goes into marriage. Those who get married do so for varied
reasons: for respect, for companionship, for mutual support, and for procreation.
Some critics (radical feminists) assert that marriage will always remain a symbolic
institution signifying the subordination of women to men. In 1969, University of Chicago
sociology professor Marlene Dixon declared: “The institution of marriage is the chief vehicle for
the perpetuation of the oppression of women; it is through the role of wife that the subjugation of
women is maintained.” (49). In 1970, author Robin Morgan referred to marriage as “a slavery-
like practice. We can’t destroy the inequities between men and women until we destroy
marriage.”(18). In 1971, Minnesota radical feminists, Helen Sullinger and Nancy Lehmann,
released a manifesto that declared: “Male society has sold us the idea of marriage….Now we
know it is the institution that has failed us and we must work to destroy it.” (23).
Feminist activists often point to historical, legal and social inequalities of wedding,
family life and divorce in their criticism of marriage. Sheila Cronan (1970), in her essay
“Marriage,” declared: “It became increasingly clear to us that the institution of marriage
‘protects’ women in the same way that the institution of slavery was said to ‘protect’ blacks—
that is, that the word ‘protection’ in this case is simply a euphemism for oppression,” (15) and
proclaimed that “marriage is a form of slavery” (16). She concluded: “Since marriage constitutes

slavery for women, it is clear that the Women’s Movement must concentrate on attacking this
institution. Freedom for women cannot be won without the abolition of marriage” (17).
According to Anima (2001), feminism signals a refusal of oppression and a commitment
to struggling for women’s liberation from all forms of oppression – internal, external,
psychological, and emotional, socio-economic, political and philosophical.
Although many feminists consider the institution of marriage as a ‘form of oppression’
‘slavery’ and ‘inequitable’, this paper attempts to establish marriage as a necessity for African
women in Besie Head’s The Collector of Treasures (1977), Osumane Sembene’s Xala (1974),
and Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Ngugi wa Mirii’s I Will Marry When I Want (1986). Specifically,
this paper focuses on how some of the African women in the three selected texts use marriage as
a means of escape from their hardships or predicaments: Dikeledi and her uncle in The Collector
of Treasures, Mam Fatou and Badyen in Xala, Wangeci and Gathoni in I Will Marry When I
Want.
Bessie Head was born on July 6, 1937, in a mental hospital in Pietermaritzburg, South
Africa. She was one of the best-known African woman writers who wrote in English. Her mother
came from a white family of Scottish descent that owned racehorses. The mother was declared
insane. Because of this, Head was given to a white Afrikaner family for adoption but was
returned because she was not fully white. She was later accepted by a black family, with whom
she lived until she was thirteen years old. She was then moved to a mission orphanage in
Durban, later attending the Ubilo Road High School. She earned a primary-school teaching
certificate at eighteen and (she) began to teach in Durban. After two years of teaching, she left to
become a journalist at Drum Publications in Johannesburg. Head became active in politics in the
1960’s and joined the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). She married Harold Head in 1961, and

they had one son. They divorced in 1964. Most of Bessie Head's important works are set in
Serowe, particularly the three novels, When Rain Clouds Gather (1968), Maru (1971), and A
Question of Power (1973). Head also published a number of short stories, including the
collection The Collector of Treasures (1977). Her last novel is A Bewitched Crossroad (1984).
Ousmane Sembene was born on born January 1, 1923, in Ziguinchor village in the
province of Casamance, south Senegal, which was then a French colony. His parents divorced
when he was a child, and he was sent to live for varying periods of time with different relatives.
Of all the family members he spent time with, the most influential was his mother's oldest
brother, Abdou Rahmane Diop. At the age of eight, Sembene was sent to Islamic school.
When Diop died in 1935, Sembene moved to Dakar to live with another uncle. In Dakar, he
began attending French school. His formal education ended at the age of 14, when he was
expelled from the colonial school after a physical fight with a French teacher. He was sent to his
father's family in Dakar, where he worked at myriad jobs, while reading and going to the cinema
each evening. When he was 19, Sembene joined the French colonial forces in their battle against
Nazi Germany. After four years in the military, during which he fought in Europe and Africa,
Sembene returned to Dakar, where he helped organize the Dakar-Niger railroad strike of 1947.
Later, he returned to France, where he worked in Citroen factory in Paris, and (he) also worked
on the dock in Marseilles for ten years. During this time, Sembene became very active in trade
union struggles and began an extraordinarily successful writing career. He wrote his first novel,
Le Docker Noir, in 1956, based on a Marseille strike in which he was involved, followed by Les
Bouts de Bois de Dieu (God's Bits of Wood) in 1960. Since then, he had produced a number of
works, which have placed him in the foreground of the international literary scene. In 1961, he
travelled to Moscow to study film and then worked in Gorky studies. Upon his return, he wrote

and directed his first feature Black Girl (1966). His other works are, but not limited to, Mandabi
(1968), Emitai (1971), Xala (1975) and Ceddo (1977). Sembene was the first film director from
Africa to gain international recognition and rightly described as the father of African cinema.
Ousmane Sembene died on 9th June, 2007, at the age of 84.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o (formerly known as James Ngugi ) was born in 1938 in Limuru,
Kenya. As he became sensitized to the effects of colonialism in Africa, he adopted his traditional
name and wrote in the Bantu language of Kenya’s Kikuyu people. He is a prolific Kenyan writer,
and currently holds a post as Distinguished Professor in Comparative Literature and English at
the University of California, Irvine. He was educated at Kamandura, Manguu and Kinyogori
primary schools; Alliance High School, all in Kenya. He also studied at Makerere University in
Kampala, Uganda. After earning a B.A. in English, he worked as a journalist for Nairobi's “Daily
Nation” for half a year before leaving to continue his second bachelor’s degree in literature at
University of Leeds, Yorkshire, England. After doing graduate work at Leeds, he served as a
lecturer in English at University College, Nairobi, Kenya, and as a visiting professor of English
at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, U.S. From 1972 to 1977, he was senior lecturer
and chairman of the department of literature at the University of Nairobi. He is a recipient of
seven Honorary Doctorates. He is also Honorary Member of the American Academy of Letters.
He is a novelist, essayist, playwright, journalist, editor, academic and social-activist. Some of his
many works include Weep Not Child (1964), The River Between (1965), A Grain of Wheat
(1967), Petals of Blood (1977), Decolonising the Mind (1986) and Wizard of the Crow (2006) .
Ngugi wa Thiong’o wrote the play I Will Marry When I Want (1977) with Ngugi wa Mirii and
the novels Devil on the Cross (1982) and Matigari (1986). In 2012, his memoir In the House of
the Interpreter was published.

In Besie Head’s The Collector of Treasures (1977), Osumane Sembene’s Xala (1974),
and Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Ngugi wa Mirii’s I Will Marry When I Want (1986), major issues
are raised: parental irresponsibility, marriage as a way out of hardship, education, friendship,
male dominance, marital love, servitude, and domestic violence, colonialism, exploitation,
suppress, clash between cultures among others. However, the issue of marriage as a means of
escape from hardship is the focal point for my discussion.
In The Collector of Treasures, Bessie Head used Dikeledi and her uncle as a vehicle for
driving home the issue of marriage by some African women as a form of escape from unpleasant
situations or hardships.
In Head’s The Collector of Treasures, Dikeledi’s uncle decides to give her hand in
marriage just for the fact that he is tired of taking care of her. Dikeledi’s uncle forgets about the
feelings of his niece, and to satisfy his desire, he pushes her to marry Garesego who is his friend.
Dikeledi’s decision does not count in this situation. “You better marry Garesego because you’re
just hanging around here like a chain around my neck” (30).This is an indication that Dikeledi’s
uncle wants to get rid of her and the only means possible is by marrying her off. To her uncle,
the only means to relieve himself of the responsibility of taking care of Dikeledi is to allow
someone to marry her and her refusal can result in her being asked to pack out of the house.
Dikeledi’s acceptance of Garesego’s marriage proposal is not because of love but for the fact
that Garesego is the only man who comes to seek her hand in marriage, and also because she
(Dikeledi) wants to get away from that wicked uncle of hers. This can be seen in the quotation of
the text below:

Garesego was my uncle’s friend, and he was the only
man who asked to marry me…I did marry Garesego,
just to get away from that cruel uncle of mine (30).
Dikeledi‘s fear is that her refusal to accept the marriage proposal of Garesego will lead to
her being denied other suitors. Therefore, whether she loves him or not, because he is the only
man who asks her to marry him, she readily accepts. Again, if she does not accept Garesego’s
marriage proposal, she will continue to suffer in the hands of her wicked and selfish uncle and
his children who treat her about like a good for nothing old and tattered piece of rag. “All my
uncle’s children treated me badly because I was their servant.” (30)
From the foregoing context, Dikeledi sees marriage as unblemished and all-rosy
institution in which people are rescued from their woes and predicaments. It is because of this
pre-conceived idea of hers that makes her to accept Garesego’s marriage proposal. She
anticipates that marriage will serve as a route from which she will escape the harsh realities of
life, and also as a means of economic liberation, but is it always the case in real-life situation?
From the above discussion and quotations, one can conclude that Dikeledi’s decision to
marry Garesego is not based on love, but a way to just escape from the maltreatment she goes
through in the house of her uncle and his children.
The issue of marriage as a way out of hardship also features prominently in Sembene’s
Xala. Sembene achieves this issue of marriage through the following characters: Mam Fatou,
Badyen and N’Gone.
In Xala, Mam Fatou, N’Gone’s mother, pleads with Badyen (also known as Yay Bineta)
to assist her find a suitor for N’Gone. Mam Fatou’s statement is quoted below:
Yay Bineta, N’Gone is your daughter.

You know so many people in N’Dakaru.
People who could help us. Look at how we live,
like animals in a yard...The way things are these days
chance has to be helped along a little (7).
The above statement from Mam Fatou to Badyen is an indication that she persuades
Badyen to look for a suitor for N’Gone. It is clear from Mam Fatou’s utterance that she wants a
suitor who can provide the needs of the family. She needs somebody who can change the
fortunes of the family through her daughter. Because Badyen knows the condition of family and
what they stand to gain if N’Gone gets married, she goes for several weeks and months looking
for a suitor for N’Gone. After weeks and months of exploring the land for a man for N’Gone,
Badyen goes for a worthy businessman, El Hadji. “One morning Yay Bineta dressed N’Gone in
her best clothes and they went to El Hadji Abdou Kader Beye’s shop, where he also had his
office.” (7). Badyen introduces N’Gone to El Hadji in his office and tries to lure El Hadji to fall
for N’Gone:
El Hadji, this is my daughter N’Gone. Take a good
look at her. Could she not be a kind of measure? A
measure of length or a measure of capacity? she is
gentle. A drop of drew. She is ephemeral too (7).
Badyen and N’Gone’s visit to El Hadji, draws his attention to N’Gone. It is obvious from
the initial stage that El Hadji admires N’Gone’s beauty, but he is not interested in her. In view of
this, Badyen tries to push her agenda further. This can be seen in the following quotations: “A
pleasant harbour for the eyes,” replied El Hadji (7). Badyen also replies:

You say ‘for the eyes’. You speak in the plural. I am talking in
the singular. One owner only…You don’t tell a person with
one eye to close it. No more than you need to show the hand
how to find the mouth. You have to prepare something for the
hand to take to the mouth. (7)
N’Gone’s frequent visits to El Hadji on the pretext of getting a job, changes El Hadji’s
feelings towards her and gradually she wins him over. “A change in his feelings began to take
place. He became used to her. He felt a growing desire for her” (8). El Hadji has finally fallen in
love with N’Gone and the marriage plans, at last, comes off. The scheme set out by Badyen
works perfectly.
The scheme set out by Mam Fatou and Badyen to find a suitor for N’Gone who according
to her mother is not able to pass her examination but must get a man to marry her, shows clearly
of the fact that these women see marriage as an escape route from the harsh realities life.
Again, it is worth noting that N’Gone’s preference for a western marriage is because she
recognises western marriage is an institution that is closer to the means of production and wealth
as compared to the traditional marriage. It is, therefore, in this sense that the character N’Gone,
sees a western marriage as a positive light and accepts this style of marriage.
Yay Bineta also uses the marriage of N’Gone as form of escape to save her face. Yay
Bineta, the Badyen, has not been successful in her marriage. All the men she marries are now in
their graves. Because of this bad luck, no man wants to marry her. She, therefore, sees the
marriage of her brother’s daughter as her marriage and tries to make sure that the marriage works
between N’Gone and El Hadji Abdou Kader Beye. To her (Badyen), the success of her brother’s
daughter’s marriage is also her own success. The quotation below confirms the above assertion:

Yay bineta had always been hounded by bad luck, ay gaaf. She
had had two husbands, now in their graves. The traditionalist held
that she must have her fill of deaths: a third victim. So no man
would marry her for fear of being this victim…She was seen as a
devourer of men, the promise of an early death. Because of her ay
gaaf, men kept out of her way, and married women of her age
preferred to divorce rather than risk widowhood near her (30)…
The marriage of her brother’s daughter was her marriage (31).
The play, I Will Marry When I Want (1986), by Kenyan writers Ngugi wa Thing’o and
Ngugi wa Mirii also speaks about the issue of marriage as a means by which people run away
from hardships of life.
From the start of the play, Wangeci tells her daughter, Gathoni, to look for a husband
because she is old enough to get married. This can be seen in the quotation below:
Take to the road!
There’s no girl worth the name
Who is contented with being an old maid
In her mother’s homestead (287).
This statement from Wangeci indicates that she wants her daughter to marry at all cost. Wangeci,
therefore, encourages the relationship between her daughter and John Muhuuni despite the fact
that she (Wangeci) has problem with him. “What kind of a person is this? He never enters the
house to greet people!” (290). Although the behaviour of John Muhuuni is not acceptable to
Wangeci, yet she pushes her daughter to get married to him. Why? Wangeci knows what she

stands to gain should John Muhuuni marry her daughter, so she ignores that behaviour. Gathoni
is also tired of the poor condition that she finds herself in and laments bitterly when the mother
asks her to put the bedding somewhere in a corner:
These tatters!
Are these what you call bedding?
And this floor,
Is this what you call a bed? (286).
Also, Wangeci’s comment is indicative of the fact that she sees marriage as a means of
escape from the harsh realities of life: “Why don’t you get yourself a husband who’ll buy you
spring beds” (286). Gathoni desires a better life different from what she is experiencing and the
only way to change her living condition is by getting married to John Muhuuni. When Kiguunda
asks her to take back the items that John Muhuuni buys for her, she responds by saying: “And I
go back to my rags? “Who is the girl who does not like being well dressed? Who does not like to
feel she is human at times?” (313).
Again, Wangeci pushes for a church wedding to satisfy her desire for social nobility. She
is of the view that her church wedding will pave a way for her family to associate themselves
with the wealthy Kiois who can make their lives better. Wangeci believes that her church
wedding will make the Kiois see her family as one of the converts into Christianity and that will
allow Kioi’s son, John Muhuuni, to marry their daughter, Gathoni, who will bring them success.
“His [Kioi’s] church shows us the only way to life and happiness,”(329) and, therefore, she
decides to be part of the church in order for her and her family to succeed and perhaps rise up to
the level of the Kiois, both socially and economically.

From the analysis of the three texts: The Collector of Treasures (1977), Xala (1974), and
I Will Marry When I Want (1986), it is conspicuous that some people, especially women, use
marriage as a means of escape from their hardships or predicaments. The question one may ask
is: Why are these writers so much concerned about the issue of marriage as a means of escape
from harsh realities of life? It is imperative to note that literature mirrors society, so the writers
are bringing to the fore what pertains in African society. They write about this issue of marriage
to create awareness for change. This is because they see it as a weakness on the part of women.
By inference, the writers are saying that such a preconceived idea of marriage as a means of
escape from oppression and economic hardship should be discouraged completely.

REFERENCES
Primary Texts
Head, B. (1977). The Collector of Treasures. Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.,p.1-64.
Sembene, O. (1974). Xala. Editions Presence Africaine, Heinemann Educational Books, p.1-103
Wa Thiong’o, Ngugi, and wa Mirii, Ngugi (1986). I Will Marry When I Want. Modern African
Drama. Ed. Biodun Jeyifo. New York: W.W. Norton and Company Inc., p. 276-361.
Secondary Texts
Anima, M. (2001). African Feminisms. Vol.I, No. 50, p.58-63.
Ennin, P. T. (2012). Confronting the Postcolony: Defiance and Escapism in Mustapha Matura’s
Independence and Ngugi and Ngugi’s I Will Marry When I Want. Between Language and
Literature. University Printing Press, Cape Coast, p. 395-396.
Fagan, P. F., Dougherty, A., & Mcelvain, M. (2014). 164 Reasons to Marry. Marriage and
Religion Research Centre.
Fagan, P. F., Robert E. R., & Noyes L. R. ( 1995). Why Congress Should Ignore Radical
Feminist Opposition to Marriage. The Heritage Foundation
Gadjigo, S., & Sembene, O. (1993). Dialogues with Critics and Writers. Amherst: University of
Massachusetts Press.
Girgis, S., Robert P. G., & Ryan T. A. (2012). What Is Marriage? Harvard
Journal of Law and Public Policy. Vol. 34, No.1., p. 245-287.
Robin, M. (1970). Sisterhood Is Powerful. New York: Random House, p. 537.
Sheila, Cronan. “Marriage,” in Koedt, Levine, and Rapone, eds., Radical Feminism. p. 214.

ADABAH K.- LITERATURE 1

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