Two characters in The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Love is blindness. Therefore, no matter how smart, intelligent a woman is, she will lose her obvious judgment to a man she has a crush on. There is no exception to Mma Ramotswe, the main character in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. She is in the relationship with two men who are totally opposite in physical appearance, characteristics, attitude toward woman. We are going to analyze the differences between Note Mokoti and J. L. B Matekoni. The first difference between Note Mokoti and JLB Matekoni is their physical appearance.
Note Mokoti shows up like an artistic, a musician who plays trumpet in a band. Mma Ramotswe is attracted by his proud and handsome face. In contrast, JLB Matekoni is more like a traditional man with an easy and reassuring face; he is not so handsome. However, JLB is kind of person who can easily, comfortably to talk with; “He was a comfortable man” that is what Mma Ramotswe thinks of him. Another difference is their characteristics. In chapter four, after the marriage, Mma Ramotswe often had wounds which were caused by her husband, Note Mokoti.
She knew beforehand that her husband is not a good man, he like bullying Mma Ramotswe even though she is pregnant. In comparison, J. L. B Matekoni is such a kind and hard-working man. Mma Ramotswe is interested in having a conversation with him and she likes his simple life “she liked to look at the calendars on the wall and talk to him in his greasy office”. Through Note’s appearance and the way he speaks to girls, he is absolutely a womanizer “I am glad, I knew straightaway that you were a virgin, which is a very good thing for a man”. Unlike Note Makoti, J. L.
B Matekoni is a responsible man “he had never married, he had remained single”, he did not take marriage as slightly as Note did. Perhaps he is looking for a serious relationship. In addition, J. L. B Matekoni gives Mma Ramotswe lots of advices and willingly help her although he does not like to do “He did not like stolen cars. He preferred to have nothing to do with them, but this was a request from Mma Ramostswe, and so there was only one answer to give. ” On the other hand, Note Mokoti is so bossy and violent that he will not listen to Mma Ramotswe ; he hits her without considering her feeling.
The last obvious difference between Note and JLB is their attitude toward woman. As we analyze Note’s characteristic, it is clear that he shows no respect to women even if he got married while JLB will listen to Mma’s story patiently and give out the advices. Note also shows his devil face at the time Mma claims that she has his baby. He gets mad and denies his baby that he is having with Mma Ramotswe. Furthermore, he hits Mma Ramotswe severely that she lost her baby after giving birth in five days. What a women need is a man who would love her more than she loves him. Mma can see it from JLB .
He is a gentleman who can stay at home and help to do domestic chores and he will be a perfect husband that any woman can dream of. This is the opposite between Note and JLB. In conclusion, Mma Ramotswe goes through two relationships which have a great effect to her life. Note brings her full of painful and unhappy memories while JLB tries to fill up her empty heart with love and care. They are totally different. In my personal point of view, it is a good comparison for young girl to choose their partner carefully. It is also a good lesson to learn how to judge a person inside not outside.
