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Hartry 1 Alterations: Comparing the Changes Caused by Marriage of the two Bessie Head Short Stories, â€Å"Life† and â€Å"Snapshots of a Wedding† Marriage is the union of two people, traditionally husband and wife. Traditional also are the roles that women play when confined in a marriage. When a woman has had the opportunity to educate herself pass tradition and has been use to a fast-paced modern lifestyle, this role of the wife might prove to be quite onerous to mold to. Usually a time of joy, celebration, and adulation, marriage may also bring along emotional and physical pain as well as awkward situations, as the woman must alter herself to conform the traditional role of what a wife should be. Bessie Head depicts two modernized, educated women in her short stories of â€Å"Life† and â€Å"Snapshots of a Wedding†. These women are forced to change from the only lives they knew as single women to the new roles they must live up to as wives. Life Morapedi and Neo are both women, who compared to the people of their perspective villages, are highly educated and have transcended the traditional customs of their African villages. Even though they have acquired knowledge beyond others and are able to attain high paying jobs, in certain aspects they are seen as interruption of the normal tradition of the villages. The inhabitants of the villages see these two women as an impediment to the usual occurrences of the villages. Life Morapedi is a vivacious, cordial, fancy woman with an enchanting voice and a tall, well-built body. She brings the intelligence of a big city back to a rural city. Villagers expect her to â€Å"bring a little light† (Head 349) to the slow-moving rural life. She loves to live life, hence her name, and throws parties and spends her never-ending bank account to show this love that she has for life. Before she is married she also engages in the endeavors of sleeping with as many men as she can for business and pleasure, a habit brought back from the city. Neo is a woman who has also excelled in her studies, excelling pass many in her village as well, including her closest family members. Due to the fact that she is smarter than most, she wants everyone to know that she is smarter. Letting everyone know causes her to be labeled a snob. Unlike Life, whose amicable nature e nthralls outsiders towards her, Neo has egocentric qualities that cause the people of her... ...ng it is not something she wants to be. This stereotypic role will probably continue to occur unless the stereotype of what a wife should be takes on yet another change. Hopefully one day an educated, vivacious, well-spoken, working, woman will become the tradition of what a wife epitomizes. +Berg, Christine G. â€Å"Bemused by education: Bessie Head’s ‘Snapshots of a Wedding’.† Exploring Short Stories (1998): Web Luis Literature Resource Center Coleman library, 14 April 2004. Goldstein, Amy. â€Å"Many Wives Have Become Family Breadwinners.† Washington Post (2002) 29 February 2000 Head, Bessie. â€Å"Life.† Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahn, et al. 6th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002. 349-355. Head, Bessie. â€Å"Snapshots of a Wedding.† Unwinding Threads: Writing by Women in Africa. Ed. Charlotte H. Bruner, et al. London: Heinmann Books, 1983. 157-161. Kerschen, Lois. â€Å"Critical Essay on ‘Life’.† Exploring Short Stories for Students 13 (2001): Web Luis Literature Resource Center Coleman library, 14 April 2004. March, Thomas, M. â€Å"Snapshots of a Wedding.† Short Stories for Students (1999) Web Luis Literature Resource Center Coleman library, 12 April 2004.