Dead Mens Path
“ Dead Men’s Path”
Over the years, populations around the world have been raised with many different cultures and beliefs. These are cultures that are accepted by some and denied and frowned upon by others because they have their own beliefs. Over the recent years the cultures do tend to change in the fact that they add new beliefs to the old ones. In Achebe’s “Dead Men’s Path” Michael Obi the newly appointed headmaster of the Ndume School has different religious and cultural beliefs then that of the current and past villagers. There is a path that leads through the school yard that has been there for many years and is part of the villagers culture and religion. The villagers are said to believ that this path is very sacred to them and has been throughout all the years. The path leads from the village shrine to the people of the village sacred burial ground. If Mr. Obi’s final decision is to remove the pathway from the village to the burial grounds this just may cause turmoil between him and the villagers. Not everyone has the same thoughts and beliefs as other individuals from other cultures. Michael Obi’s beliefs are much different than that of the villagers cultural beliefs, therefore this may cause a lot of conflict between himself and the villagers. The theme of “Dead Men’s Path”, has been using several symbols in the setting of this short story the author also uses each characters traits to express the overall theme of this short story.
First off, one of the many symbols Chinua Achebe’s (the author) uses in the setting is the cultural and religious path that leads from the village shrine to the sacred burial ground of the villagers. In this short story Obi states to one of his colleagues that has been teaching there for three years, “It amazes me”, that you people allowed the villagers to make use of this footpath. It is simply incredible”. “The path”, said the teacher apologetically, “appears to be very important to them. Although it is hardly
Over the years, populations around the world have been raised with many different cultures and beliefs. These are cultures that are accepted by some and denied and frowned upon by others because they have their own beliefs. Over the recent years the cultures do tend to change in the fact that they add new beliefs to the old ones. In Achebe’s “Dead Men’s Path” Michael Obi the newly appointed headmaster of the Ndume School has different religious and cultural beliefs then that of the current and past villagers. There is a path that leads through the school yard that has been there for many years and is part of the villagers culture and religion. The villagers are said to believ that this path is very sacred to them and has been throughout all the years. The path leads from the village shrine to the people of the village sacred burial ground. If Mr. Obi’s final decision is to remove the pathway from the village to the burial grounds this just may cause turmoil between him and the villagers. Not everyone has the same thoughts and beliefs as other individuals from other cultures. Michael Obi’s beliefs are much different than that of the villagers cultural beliefs, therefore this may cause a lot of conflict between himself and the villagers. The theme of “Dead Men’s Path”, has been using several symbols in the setting of this short story the author also uses each characters traits to express the overall theme of this short story.
First off, one of the many symbols Chinua Achebe’s (the author) uses in the setting is the cultural and religious path that leads from the village shrine to the sacred burial ground of the villagers. In this short story Obi states to one of his colleagues that has been teaching there for three years, “It amazes me”, that you people allowed the villagers to make use of this footpath. It is simply incredible”. “The path”, said the teacher apologetically, “appears to be very important to them. Although it is hardly