Achebe

Chinua Achebe’s “Dead Men’s Path” exemplifies, on a broad spectrum, the ongoing conflict between old and new. The story follows Michael Obi, the new headmaster of Ndume School. The setting is Nigeria in 1949. He is described as “young and eccentric” with a “passion for ‘modern methods’ (Achebe 1). He is very eager to turn the “unprogressive” school around. His wife (whose description I find fascinating- hoping to discuss it in class) decorates the school accordingly. To his surprise, he finds a path in the flowers. He orders that the path be closed. The Ani priest of the village tells him of the animist beliefs of the village- that the path connects the spiritual and the physical world. Obi, as a modern, well educated, and ambitious headmaster, is excited by this. He seems to take pleasure in telling the priest that the point of their school is to eradicate such beliefs. In the end, the villagers break down the fence used to block the path and vandalize the school and the flowers around it. The supervisor then came to inspect the school, giving it an unfavorable review. He also states that the “tribal-war situation developing between the school and the village” was due in part to the “misguided zeal” of the new headmaster (Achebe 3).

                I believe that this story represents the power struggle between old and new, as well as the unwillingness to tolerate the ideas of others. The villagers of that time subscribed to a very animist system of beliefs, represented by the path in the flowers. Instead of allowing the villagers to keep their path, and in turn, their beliefs, the headmaster denies them both by closing the path. Because of this, the villagers tear down the fence and trample the flowers. This is important for two reasons. The first is that, by denying them the right to hold their beliefs because of his excitement to implement his own, the headmaster started a war with the villagers. He was narrow minded and subscribed only to his own point of view of modern reform, evident by the statement "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 2). His unwillingness to tolerate the ideas of others could be considered the “dead men’s path”- the path that will only lead to confrontation. To that end, the flowers are also important. The flowers symbolize how fragile the headmasters’ modern beliefs are in comparison to the long-held animist beliefs of the villagers. The headmasters’ modern flowers are trampled by the villagers, just his “misguided zeal” for modern-reform is trampled by the old, fundamental beliefs of the people on whom he tried to impose them.