Irony And Hypocrisy In Dead Men's Path

In Achebe’s “Dead Men’s Path,” we gain a perspective of the life of Michael Obi. From the very beginning the story states “It had been an unprogressive school, so the mission authorities decided to send a young and energetic man to run it” (Achebe 187). After this line follows a short sentence stating Obi’s acceptance of the position. By analyzing this, the conclusion can be made that Achebe wants use to infer that Obi is young and energetic. Although, once that is automatically inferred Achebe proceeds to introduce the wife of Obi, to counteract those thoughts. Throughout this storyline, Achebe presents statements that include both irony and hypocrisy in order to divert the perception of his characters to reality. Returning to the wife’s introduction, she begins to challenge the projection …show more content…
The buildup of such a negative character being presented positively, reflects the idea that not everyone is true to their opinions in a position of work. Obi was a character built to be a representation of the idea that one opinion is not meant to overpower another. When he began to belittle the cultural belief of the people he was amongst, it brought tension between him and the priest. The catalyst that sparked the community to seek retribution upon Obi, was when the young woman passed away in childbirth. In turn for Obi trampling their sacred pathway’s importance, they continued to trample what he valued most. This is a pivotal moment in the character development of Obi, as it shows that the way his personality is built to not be accurate to his verbal opinions, he will suffer the consequences. In the end Achebe used Obi to make example of the opinions of many, and show through hypocrisy and irony that ideas are not meant to have