North American Traditions

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Afghan vs North American Courtship and Wedding Rituals Both Afghan and North American courtship and wedding rituals value tradition. To begin, marriage proposal is one of the many valued courtship and wedding ritual traditions that is very specific to both Afghan and North American cultures. In the Afghan culture it is tradition for the father of the male to ask the father of the female for permission for marriage, whereas in North American culture the groom buys a ring and gets down on one knee and asks the female to marry him. Amir values the Afghan tradition for proposing because when he wants to marry Soraya, he says to his father, Baba, “I want you to ask General Taheri [Soraya’s father] for his daughter’s hand” (Hosseini 170) It would …show more content…

However, although both proposals are different to each culture, both Afghans and North Americans value their specific tradition for proposal. Another tradition that is part of North American and Afghan courtship and wedding rituals is the colours worn during the wedding ceremony. The traditional colour that is worn in the Afghan culture for wedding ceremonies is green whereas in North American culture it is white for the bride. In The Kite Runner, when the swearing ceremony is about to happen, Amir says that both Soraya and himself are dressed in the traditional green clothing because it is “the colour of Islam, but also the colour of spring and new beginnings” (Hosseini 179).The reason for the bride wearing white in North American weddings is because white is recognized as a colour of purity. The colour that is worn during the ceremony is valued as tradition in both the Afghan and North American courtship and wedding rituals. To continue, the dancing after the wedding ceremony is one of the many traditions for both Afghan and North American courtship and wedding rituals. Amir describes the dancing after the wedding ceremony at his and Soraya’s Afghan wedding as, “sweat-drenched men dancing the traditional attan in a circle, bouncing, spinning faster and faster with the feverish tempo of the tabla, until all but just a few