Traditionalism In Dead Men's Path By Chinua Achebe

In the story “Dead Men’s Path,” Michael Obi is appointed headmaster to Ndume Central School which has always been known for its unprogressive ways. He had many great ideas for the school and this was an opportunity to put those ideas into practice. He did so though in a selfish, arrogant way and as a result he failed his objective. Michael would have most likely succeeded if he used diplomacy, and understood the moral issues with his operating methods by communicating with the locals. The author, Chinua Achebe, describes this story as a perfect example of why we should always listen to both sides of a story, if we have a desire to change something. Many young people, when they receive a promotion, they feel a great sense of accomplishment, …show more content…
The structure also seems to be setting up an impending reaction to an action. There is this school within a village in Nigeria that seems to be stagnant and stuck in traditional ways for a reason. Then in January of 1949, Mission authorities send Michael who is a young an energetic man to be in charge of the school. If the school and village traditionalism culture has been unchanged for a long time, it is unlikely it would change now, unless I think there is clear communication in the attempt. From the beginning, there was a sense of gridlock between the older teachers and villagers versus the younger headmaster. It was very straight forward that Michael thought the older teachers and villagers had outdated ideology, and likewise the older villagers thought Michael was naïve to attempt to modernize their way of living on his own. Michael blocked an old path that was very important to the older people of the village. The path was used primarily for the burial of the dead, and was a path that the dead could use to visit their loved ones. Michael’s wife at first was very excited for her husband, but then she became suspiciousness and it was obvious that something just didn’t feel right from the beginning. The school from the start was a lost cause when it came to attempting to change the ideology has existed for years. While it was excellent opportunity for Michael and his …show more content…
Michael even stated that “The whole purpose of our school... is to eradicate just such beliefs as that. Dead men do not require footpaths. The whole idea is just fantastic. Our duty is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas,” (Achebe 311). The author provided a very tense mood between the characters because they didn’t respect or condone each other’s point of view. It was at this point, Michael and the village priest should have sat down and communicate each other’s ideas, and created a plan for the future that would satisfy both the school and the local village. Had they done that, there most likely would have been little to no conflict. Although it was clear that this type of meeting didn’t happen within the story, Michael was going to remain with his modern ideology, and likewise the priest was siding with the traditional ideology and beliefs of the locals. As most people know, if you’re negotiating or stating your point about something, you don’t insult the other party or tell them their cultural beliefs are useless. That will not accomplish anything and change will not likely occur, but retaliation may result if these ideas or actions remain in place. In the journal From Traditionalism to Modernism, “The Africans believe that there are two major worlds namely: the physical and the spiritual worlds.