In "Marriage is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe and "Love Must Not Be Forgotten" by Zhang Jie, they explore the problems of individuals seeking love and fulfillment in a changing culture. In both stories, the main character is confronted with the problem of having many obstacles stand in between their true love. They must make the choice of whether to follow their heart or follow their culture.

             In "Marriage is a Private Affair" Nnaemeka must decide whether he will obey his father or marry the one he loves. In this first quote, "'I shall never see her' was the reply. From that night the father scarcely spoke to his son."(p.191) Nnaemeka must decide whether his father or his wife is more important. This is a complicated decision for Nnaemeka because he must choose between the man who raised him or the woman he loves. It was also difficult because if he chooses his wife, then his father may never speak to him again, but if he chooses his father, then he may never experience true love ever again. In another quote, "If it had occurred to him that never in history of his people had a man married a woman who spoke a different tongue, he might have been less optimistic."(p.191) Nnaemeka must decide whether he will follow his culture and marry his arranged wife or go his opposite way. This is also an intricate decision for Nnaemeka because he has lived in Ibo for so long that the Ibo culture is all he really knows, so abandoning his culture just to marry his love may be quite hard for him. This is an incredibly complex problem he is confronted with because if he goes his own way, he may never again be accepted by his people and his culture, and he will become all alone with no one to help him when he is in need of help. These problems that Nnaemeka encounters are very similar to the problems that the Mother in "Love Must Not Be Forgotten" encounters.

             In "Love Must Not Be Forgotten" the Mother is faced with a problem in which she has found her one true love, but is unable to marry him because he is already married.