Theme Of Family Relationships In The Rich People's School

Different Relationships, Different Cultures A famous African proverb once stated, “children are the reward of life”. This quote gives us a small example of how important not only fertility, but also relationships, have been within African culture. “The Rich People’s School” gives us a glimpse of the characteristics within traditional family relationships, how they have altered over a span of time in history, and what they have evolved into currently. The short story, “The Rich People’s School”, introduces us to the concept of marriage and fertility, using a mother, a grandmother, and a young girl, named Sylvia. The mother, being from Botswana, was sent away with an American man for marriage, while her mother and her daughter stayed in Botswana (never mentioning a father). We soon find out that the …show more content…
When the mother moved away, Sylvia started going to this “rich people’s school” using the money that was sent from America, but soon figured out that she absolutely hated this school because she did not fit in, and therefore stopped attending. The young girl hid this from her grandmother until she could not any longer. When her grandmother found out, she was not ecstatic at first. In the end, the two of them thought of an even better arrangement, an arrangement that could use the money in a positive way, an arrangement that could bring her mother back to Botswana. In traditional Botswanian culture, family structured households were highly encouraged and one’s that did not match those traditional guidelines were frowned upon, similar to the children frowning upon Sylvia in the story. Prior to any marriage occurring, the groom would have to offer the family of the bride some