Outline the ways in which Snapshots of a Wedding explores the clash between old and new
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Outline the ways in which 'Snapshots of a Wedding' explores the clash between old and new cultures. Discuss whether one or other is promoted by the author, and if so, how.
As well as describing the two cultures, and showing the difference between the people who belong to each, Bessie Head shows us the conflict that is happening inside Kegoletile himself, which, in a way, echoes what is happening around him. Neo and Mathata embody the old and new cultures, which gives you a wider perspective of what is happening in Botswana generally. This story can be interpreted in a variety of ways, and people from different cultures will all see it differently.
The author describes some of the traditional customs, and how the new culture overrides these, to give the reader some background information about the story. It also, however, illustrates the difference between the two cultures, both in what they do, and how they think. To us as readers, the wedding still appears to have all the traditional customs, but a man belonging to the old culture says:
'"This is going to be a modern wedding."'
This man could say this in a friendly, joking way, but even then there is an element of disapproval in what he says. It is not voiced openly, but he uses the word 'modern,' rather than any other descriptive adjective; if he had been wanting to commend it he would have used a more positive work...