This photograph was taken at one of the most significant events in a person’s life. The image is of a wedding, but this isn’t just any bride and groom, these two people are partaking in an arranged marriage. Arranged marriage is a tradition that several cultures and families practice. Loyalty exhibited here is to culture and family. To what extent will people go to remain loyal to the traditions of their heritage and the people who raised them?
While I’m not necessarily opposed to others’ involvement in arranged marriage, I would not appreciate that degree of control from others in my own life. I think it would be really difficult for me to be disloyal to my family and even culture if I was in an arranged marriage. Traditions are difficult to break or change and in many ways refusing an arranged marriage is similar to changing a long, accepted tradition. But where should the line of loyalty be drawn? Marriage, in my opinion, is one of the most intimate relationships in life. When someone is deciding who another is supposed to spend every day of their life with, I think that tradition is demanding too much loyalty. Though, society has drilled into people’s minds that “blood is thicker than water.” From the time we are children, we are taught that family is one of the most important aspects of life. If a person turns their back on an arranged marriage, how are they supposed to walk away without feeling disloyal?
