January Monthly Connection

Although it isn't especially common in modern day, for many years, women mainly married for approval among family members or for social status. This is a very sad concept because in most situations the woman is left lonely and confused. The woman may not even feel as if she knows her so-called husband and is left looking for more in the relationship. In the end, she is often left in a sad state. This can pass on for generations as the human race enforces that money is of utmost importance in one's life. In "The Awakening," Edna marries Leonce under the pressure of her family. Her mother died when she was very young, leaving her oldest sister to step in as her "mother." Because of this, her family felt that it was best that she marry into society, thus having a major impact on the decision of marriage. Edna never appears to truly love Leonce, and finds herself falling in love with Robert. It was through her family striving to bring her into a wealthy lifestyle that left her unhappy.A second novel that we are currently reading is "A Thousand Splendid Suns." In this situation, Mariam is forced into marrying Rasheed. Apparently, Rasheed was put out as being in a higher class. Although he wasn't by any means poor, he wasn't all that he was made out to be. When her father and his wives are convincing Mariam to marry Rasheed, they continue to enforce that she would live a upstanding lifestyle. Once they attempt to have children, Rasheed realizes that Mariam is incapable of carrying a child for a full term. He begins to abuse her, which in turn makes her unhappy with her life.Although these two instances in the novels are very different from one another, they have one similarity. Their forced marriages for the gain of social class gave them an unhappy lifestyle. Thankfully, this concept has declined over the years in America. However, it continues to be prominent in specific regions around the world. Today, some women will marry for money, but in the end they will often turn to divorce in a matter of a couple years. It is marriages such as these that have trashed the meaning of marriage. In my opinion, marrying for social class will only lead to the individuals becoming unhappy with one another. Instead, one should marry when they know that they will be happy with nothing but each other.