Mongolian Wedding Analysis

Mongolian Wedding – Analysis The narrative begins in a chronological order that details the customs of this “festive” occasion. Of the initial six paragraphs, five begin with a reference to time which elaborates on both the Mongolian wedding and the “dizzying” anticipation of the wedding. “Throughout the evening…[i]n the morning…[b]y mid- afternoon…[and a]t four o’clock,” the wedding party arrives and performs preparations in haste. As a guest in the “ger,” the reader witnesses a union of “disappointed parties” despite the “happy day,” bringing to light the unfamiliarity of the bride and groom. Like the author, the reader feels increasingly awkward as the event progresses, for the author strengthens the couple’s reluctance as the ceremony unravels. The foreign guest, our writer, also couples structure with powerful imagery to draw parallels between Mongolian and Western nuptials. While the beginning of his description lacks detail, the later paragraphs illustrate his increasing awareness. From “[t]hey sat on the grass” to “sheep parts…[stood] like a grey glacier on its summit,” the narrator’s employment of similes reflects his involvement in the celebration. Once merely a traveler recording reports, he becomes a “sign of good fortune,” a wedding guest with a reserved seat “[in] the lap of one of the groom’s brothers.” Not only does his description serve the purpose of his travel blog, but it also provides a verbal yet virtual wedding album for us readers. The details are so vivid that they become photos in our mind’s memory book. The “biscuits, slabs of cheese, and boiled sweets,” piled high and the “merriment” of the wedding party—especially the “bouncy, smiling” and inebriated sister-of-the-bride—all provide polaroids that appeal to our inner eye. It is through the use of these images that we, also foreigners, better grasp the customs of the Mongols. Along with arrangement and pictures, the author utilizes comparisons to engage his readers and unveil both the culture and a marriage that may already be on the rocks. By likening “the Russian truck” to a “Rolls-Royce” and displaying “sweets…arrayed…in…tiers like wedding cakes,” he compares Mongolian traditions to Western ones. In the same way, the bride’s game of hide-and-seek “under a bed” reminds readers that grooms are discouraged from seeing their wives-to-be before saying, “I do.” The “poster of…the national wrestling champion…hung in a prominent position above the marital bed,” moreover, suggests consummation of the vows is expected, much like a honeymoon. Still, the juxtaposition of the groom as “tall and thin” and “the bride, as round as he was linear” captures the marital turmoil that awaits this couple. “Never once meeting each other’s eyes,” the author describes them as “disappointed parties on a first date.” He includes their “distance from the general jollity…the only sober members of the…party” to strengthen the emotional distance between the presumed lovers. Accordingly, he implies this marriage, unlike a typical Western wedding, is one arranged by “two families… position[ed]…like opposing armies.” In his piece, the author fosters a sound union between structural nuances and overt word choice, giving the reader a glimpse into Mongolian marital traditions and a not-so-perfect arrangement.