Food as a symbol of cultural difference in "The Arrangers of Marriage"

        In the short story the arrangers of marriage, food symbolizes the cultural differences in the main character, Chinaza’s, life. Before she comes to America, Chinaza plans on cooking traditional nigerian food to keep her nigerian culture in America. She packs ingredients that can only be bought in Nigeria. At the Airport, they confiscate her Nigerian ingredients and she is forced to leave without them. This incident causes her to start her life in America without her traditional meals, distancing herself even further from her culture. Later in the story, as Chinaza cooks other Nigerian dishes with ingredients that can be bought in America, her husband, Dave, tells her not to cook the dishes anymore. He is worried about the smells drifting down the halls and the Americans being offended by them. Chinaza being forced to stop cooking food symbolizes her separation from Nigerian culture and the differences between Nigeria and America.