Punishment In Dead Men's Path

Pay In Full
It is said that in this life we shall pay for everything that we have committed. Let’s be certain that what goes around comes right back around. Indeed, Cicero asserts “Justice renders to each his due.” What this means to me is that if we decide to do a crime we should be ready to do the time. We will be talking about two short stories “Dead Men’s Path” by Chinua Achebe and “The Five-Forty-Eight” by John Cheever. We will prove and show that Michael Obi and Blake each experienced multiple punishments for the crimes that they committed. Michael is disrespectful and inconsiderate. Blake is arrogant towards his neighbor and callous towards his secretaries. Ultimately, we will see that Michael’s punishment was brutal; however Blake
endured a much bigger punishment for his much bigger crime making him a better example of Cicero’s idea. In the story “The Five-Forty-Eight” the crimes of Blake can be described by the source of their degree minor, serious, and worst. The story is set in New York where Blake, an advertising executive sits in his office staring out a window looking over the city buildings. Let’s begin with Cheever stating Blake’s minor crime of him being a class snob against his neighbor Mr. Watkins. “Mr. Watkins’ long and dirty hair and his corduroy jacket reassured Blake that he had been in the right” (240). The narrator then states a more serious crime of Blake not speaking to his wife Louise and ignoring her making him a despicable husband. “[I] am not going to speak to you for two weeks” (240). However, the worst crime committed was when Cheever points out that Blake hand picks his secretaries to used them. Oblivious to the feelings of others, Blake demeans his wife and exploits Miss Dent. “Most of the many women he had known had been picked for their lack of self-esteem” (238). Blake hires her, seduces her, and then fires her. Furthermore, this is where we can get a clear idea of Blake’s criminal acts that have been planned and thought through making him a monster.
In the short story “Dead Men’s Path” we are able to focus on the crimes that took place and classify them from minor, to serious, and worst. The story takes place in Nigeria where Michael Obi and his wife are appointed headmasters of Ndume Central School. They have now taken this assignment and will do all they can to show the people how a school should be run. Achebe describes the first crime committed when Michael disrespects the Priest. “The whole purpose of our school, he said finally, is to eradicate just such beliefs as that . . . Our duty is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas” (115). Secondly, Achebe declares that Michael closed the path and the village people could not get through. “I don’t suppose the ancestors will find the little detour too burdensome” (115). Tragically, Achebe states that because of the closing path a woman dies. “Two days later a young woman in the village died in childbed” (115). Clearly, these are terrible crimes, not only is Michael disrespecting men of position, but on top of that he is making it harder for the village people by closing path ways, and worst, a women is dead because of it. As we dissected both stories, it was obvious to see that both characters Michael and Blake committed serious crimes.
In both stories, one will find the main characters committing multiple crimes and as a result will be punished for them. Achebe confirms that Michael’s crime of closing the path is punished soon after by a women’s death as a result. “Two days later a young woman in the village died in childbed” (115). Cheever also confirms that Blake’s crime of using his secretaries are shortly followed by his punishment of him being paranoid everywhere he goes. “The train traveled up from underground into the weak daylight, and the slums and the city reminded Blake vaguely of the woman who had followed him” (241). As we can prove that both suffered punishment let us now focus on the worst and if the punishment was equal to the crime. Achebe writes that Michael’s ultimate punishment was that at the end of it all his hard work did not pay off for his work was destroyed. “Obi woke up the next morning among the ruins of his work” (115). This detail suggests that Michael’s punishment was equal to his crime for he lost all he had invested. Cheever emphasizes that Blake was powerful as he exploited Miss Dent when she was powerless. However, towards the end she held a gun a symbol of power and control, making him suffer, fearing for his life. “Do what I say. Put your face in the dirt. He fell forward in the filth” (247). This was an equal punishment for Blake’s crime finding himself powerless against the young Miss Dent as she washed her hands and walked
away. In conclusion Michael’s and Blake’s crimes were both equal to their punishment one would say. Both short stories have a connection to the quotation of Cicero, because we see justice being served in each individual. There is one story where we were able to see that the outcome of the crime was losing the dream of creating a modern and delightful school. Most noticeably, Michael worked hard to pursue completion, but lost it all and ended up hurting the village people by starting a tribal-war. Most sharply, Blake suffered the worst punishment because of the fact that his life was threatened by his victim who he thought was powerless. This brings satisfaction and fulfillment, knowing that there was equal punishment to the crime. From my experience there are times in our lives where we may take advantage of people who we think are powerless and harmless but with all due time they will return when strong to claim justice and to be paid in full.

Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. “Dead Men’s Path.” International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for reading and Writing about Fiction. Ed. Ruth Spack. New York: Cambridge UP, 1998. 113- 115. Print.
Cheever, John “The Five-Forty-Eight.”