Dead Man's Path

Two Men, One Path Over the years, the culture of diverse populations has changed numerous times, in various ways. Cultures are set in a way that if changes occur, they keep the fundamental values of the former culture and add new beliefs from the newer generation. However, change has lead to negative reactions for some and others can accept. In Chinua Achebe’s “Dead Man’s Path”, Michael Obi, the new headmaster of a progressive school, has different religious beliefs from the village he lives in. He wants to close the path that leads to the village’s burial grounds and impose modern views to the traditional principles. The priest of the village opposes Obi’s beliefs since it compromises the heritage and culture of the village. The continuous battle of modernity versus tradition leads to conflict and results in consequences at the end. The consequences of the battle between the two men empowered the main symbol of the story, the path.
As a new principle to Ndume Central School, Michael Obi had some shoes to fill. He and his wife were both anxious to share a modern life with the community. “We shall have such beautiful gardens and everything will be just modern and delightful,” Obi’s wife announced. In other words, headmaster Obi wanted to transform the school grounds into an environment of beauty, this was one of two ideas he had in mind. Once the school was redesigned with beautiful flowers, the headmaster discovered an unused path near the grounds. He learned that the path was important to the villagers because it connects to burial grounds. Obi’s second idea was to block the path. It was breaking regulations and he looked at the path as a thing of destruction. However, the headmaster didn’t know the true meaning of the path.
The path represents death and new beginnings. The priest of the village disagreed with the closing of the path because it’s a traditional belief. The priest argues to Obi, “this path was here before you were born and before your father