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The [Modern] Ways of Life

The author of “Dead Men’s Path,” Chinua Achebe, is a native born Nigerian.  Born in 1930 to missionary schoolteachers, Achebe was raised in a strong Christian home.  He was one of the first to attend the University College at Ibdan and later finished his schooling and earned a B.A. in English at London University.  Upon his graduation, he returned to Africa and went through many years of turmoil as his country was split in two by civil war.  Achebe is best known for his novels, and although he has not written many short stories, he is known to “stand among the finest short fiction modern Africa has produced” (10).  Upon reading the author’s perspective at the end of the story I was caught on the author’s intrigue with different cultures.  I, too, love to learn about and experience different cultures, especially ones that I’ve never heard of or experienced before.  This was my basis for picking this short story.

The short story, “Dead Men’s Path,” is the story of a “modern method” (10) African headmaster who takes on a new job in a village where the people are superstitious and cling to traditional tribal ways.  The story addresses the cultural conflicts between “new” British ideas and “old” African customs.  The story takes place at Ndume Central School in Africa in January of 1949.  There is really only one fully developed character.  The headmaster, Michael Obi, is a man who strives to be made modern and make everything in his path modernized.  In doing so, he alienates the villagers by putting up barricades in front of their sacred ancestral path.  The path happened to lead right down the middle of the school grounds.  The villagers blame Obi for the death of one of their women who died in childbirth, as the path that was blocked connected the village shrine to their place of burial.  The dead relatives of the villagers used this path to depart from the village and their ancestors used the path to visit them.  Most importantly, the path allowed children to come into the village to be born.  By blocking the path, the child was not allowed to enter the village, and both the mother and child did not survive.  As a result, Michael Obi woke up one morning to find his once perfectly constructed school premises in ruins.

Initially I picked this story because I think we Americans live in a very ethnocentric society and this topic interests me greatly.  I’m fascinated with different cultures and beliefs and was highly interested in this story.  Chinua Achebe does a great job in portraying this ethnocentric idea, and it made me realize that not just industrialized nations experience ethnocentrism.  Little villages in Africa experience it too, but in a different way.  Because of the ending, and the way Achebe showed how Obi was so close-minded and had to have things his way really allowed me to enjoy the story.   I’m not saying I like horrid and depressing endings, but I do like when an author shows a point that is so good that it gets the point across without any case of misunderstanding it.

The main topic in Chinua Achebe’s short story, “Dead Men’s Path,” deals with cultural differences.  It deals with new and old, modern and ancient, today and yesterday.  I think a main theme of the short story is to always keep an open mind when dealing with different and new cultures.  One man, the headmaster Michael Obi, is “infected by his passion for ‘modern methods’” (10) and, because of this, he tramples on the very beliefs and traditions of a native tribe.  I perceive this as him thinking his way is better than theirs and therefore is showing ethnocentrism.  The author states Obi is “outspoken in his condemnation of the narrow view of these older and often less-educated ones” (10).  This statement clearly shows that Obi is the one that is narrow-minded in his views.

The author does a great job in building up the setting.  It’s only a path and a school yard, but that’s what makes the story what it is.  It is all about the path being barricaded.  If the setting was changed at all, the story would take on a different feel.  The other characters in the story are not all fully developed, and they do not need to be.  The story tells a great deal in the minute information that is given on the characters such as Obi’s wife and the village priest.  The story is still understood.  The author’s use of the first person for the point of view is done well.  All of these elements of fiction help to support the main theme of always needing to keep an open mind when dealing with different and new cultures.

This short story by Chinua Achebe, in my opinion, is one that people should definitely read.  It is short and gets the message across.  It doesn’t require a lot of thinking to understand it.  Since we live in such an ethnocentric nation and society, I feel that reading stories about it happening in the little villages of Africa could open people’s eyes to it happening in the U.S.  It’s definitely a completely different culture and a completely different way of life, but that just might be the thing that people see, and it might open their eyes to it in America.  Because it is so short, many people would be more inclined to read it since it’s a “short read.”

Also, reading any sort of material from an author of a different race/culture/time period brings new aspects to be learned into our brains.  It allows our brains to expand with knowledge that wouldn’t be found anywhere else.  We can become more well-rounded people just by opening up a book or reading a short story.

I gained many things from this “exploration.”  I gained the reading of works by an African author I had never heard of before.  I was able to better affirm my belief that ethnocentrism is running rampant in today’s world and it must come to an end.  I learned that we, as a whole human race, need to respect other’s beliefs and rituals no matter how absurd they appear.  I really enjoyed this short story by Chinua Achebe and would like to read more by him.  I’m intrigued with different cultures, especially different African cultures.  In the past I’ve had the opportunity to travel to and experience parts of Africa.  One day, I hope to return and pick up where I left off.