Question

read the passage from \marriage is a private affair\ by chinua achebe. \i shall never see her,\ was the reply. from that night the father scarcely spoke to his son. he did not, however, cease hoping that he would realize how serious was the danger he was heading for. day and night he put him in his prayers. nnaemeka, for his own part, was very deeply affected by his father’s grief. but he kept hoping that it would pass away. if it had occurred to him that never in the history of his people had a man married a woman who spoke a different tongue, he might have been less optimistic. \it has never been heard,\ was the verdict of an old man speaking a few weeks later. in that short sentence he spoke for all of his people. this man had come with others to commiserate with okeke when news went round about his son’s behaviour. by that how does this passage reinforce the traditional social hierarchy? the older men in the village tell okeke that he should respect nnaemeka’s decision. the older men in the village console nnaemeka about okeke’s attitude toward his choices. the older men in the village commiserate with okeke regarding nnaemeka’s decision to disobey him. the older men in the village think that nnaemeka should be optimistic that okeke will accept his decision.

Explanation:

To determine how the passage reinforces the traditional social hierarchy, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: The passage shows the father (Okeke) is upset with his son's decision, and the older men commiserate with Okeke, not tell him to respect the son's decision. So this is incorrect.
• Option 2: The older men are commiserating with Okeke, not consoling Nnaemeka. So this is incorrect.
• Option 3: The older men come to commiserate with Okeke about his son's (Nnaemeka) decision to disobey him (by marrying a woman who speaks a different tongue, going against tradition). This shows they support the traditional hierarchy where the father's wishes (and traditional norms) should be followed, so this option is correct.
• Option 4: The older men's verdict "It has never been heard" (about a man marrying a woman with a different tongue) and their commiseration with Okeke show they don't think Okeke will accept, so this is incorrect.

Answer:

C. The older men in the village commiserate with Okeke regarding Nnaemeka’s decision to disobey him.