A Dead Mens Path (Chinua Achebe)

Summary Michael Obi is a young and dynamic schoolteacher who has received a Western education. Because of this the mission authorities appoint him head teacher at the rather backward Ndume Central School. Supported by his wife Nancy, he immediately goes about establishing his many progressive ideas, one of them being establish order by tidying up the schoolyard and turning it into a beautiful garden. One day he sees a woman from the local village walk through the flower beds, and one of the teachers informs him that a path connecting the village shrine with the burial place crosses the schoolyard. This is the kind of old-fashioned superstition Michael wants to wipe out, so he closes the path. Even when the village priest explains how important the path is for the villagers and asks him politely to open it again, Michael refuses, especially as he wishes to impress the Government Education Officer who wants to inspect the school. Some days later a young woman in the village dies in childbirth, and the next morning Michael wakes up to see the schoolyard devastated and one of the school buildings pulled down. It so happens that the white Supervisor visits that very same day and Michael receives a very bad report, which blames him for causing some kind of tribal war.

Description of the main characters Michael Obi Michael, a young and talented man is in the mid-20s but who looks over 30, belongs to that section of the colonized peoples who have undergone a Western education, in the course of which he has himself adopted a colonialist mindset. He sees it as his duty, as an agent of modernization, to enlighten his fellow Nigerians by showing them that their native beliefs are nothing more than narrow views and superstition and by creating colonial order out of indigenous chaos. Another point is that he is ambitious and has already made it clear to the Mission authorities that he is a pivotal teacher who will be able to distinguish himself from the other headmasters in the mission field. He is convinced that by showing the natives the error of their ways and by establishing what seems to him to be colonial order he will make a good impression on the white Education Authorities. As a result he does not recognize that, when the priest visits him, he might establish a dialogue between the two cultures leading to peaceful interaction, and that a compromise would establish mutual respect. You have the impression that hes arrogant and intolerant. Instead he chooses with a great deal of arrogance to enforce his progressive views by referring to the regulations. He doesnt only create a hostile atmosphere but also ruins his own career.

Nancy (Michaels wife) Nancy devotes herself to civilizing the environment, whereas Michael sees it as his vocation to improve the minds of the unenlightened. She is like a copy of her husband and she does never once question his aims, realizing that in supporting him she herself could also establish her position within the hierarchy. The Ani (priest of the village) The village priest and Michael Obi are totally different. The Ani is the representative of the tribe. Hes quiet and merely asks Michael to respect the traditions of the native inhabitants of the village and their ancestors. He is the one who reveals the tolerance which Michael lacks and who suggests a compromise which would lead to peaceful friendship.

Main topics of the story Misunderstandings between the civilized and native people Clash of cultures Conflict between the different values of people (for the Ani, the tradition is very important but Michael only wants to start a great career as headteacher)

Parallels between A Dead Mens Path and other short stories Michael and Nancy are very new at their new place to work and to live like the two men Kayerts and Carlier in Outpost of Progress who started their new job in Congo at a river. Both groups succeeded first in their work but finally they failed both because of the traditions and uncivilized behavior of the native tribes. Michael believes that he is better and more progressive than other Africans due to his education in the Mission schools. He imitates white colonial behaviors in rejecting traditional African culture. Similarly in A meeting in the Dark, Stanley, the father of John and a Kenyan Calvinist has to convert to strict Christians beliefs which he tries to impose on his son John. In An Outpost of Progress Makola learns from the colonizers how to be ruthless. Acculturation: This progress can also be seen in A meeting in the Dark: a young man, John, is torn between his native tribe and the Christian beliefs he has been brought up with. Clashes between different cultural norms: The stories A Horse and Two Goats, A Pair of Jeans and My Son the Fanatic also deal with clashes between different cultural values. Western materialism comes up against Eastern mysticism, but the outcome is positive for both sides.

By Moritz Hoffmann, Jonas Mller, Sebastian Bayer