Snapshots of a Wedding
Bessie Head

Told from a thrid person perspective this short stories illustrates several viewpoints of a strategic wedding. The bride is pregnant and the groom is known to have another child on the way by a less educated girl in the villiage. The bride is describes as conceited and nasty, but had a good job and an education. The other girl, Mathata was described as warm and friendly, but poor. There were few traditional observences and few sentiments between the bride and the groom. He knew he was marrying for staus and not love. He had not made his visits to Mathata secret, nor his understanding of the type of woman he was actually marrying. It was humerous to hear all the characters described, no character was made to seem heroic or perfect. The mantra "Be a good wife" is ironic because you have to wonder if the aunt genuinely wants success for her neice or wants to avoid shame on the family.