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    What We Can Learn About ....

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    CJ Li
    1) The story "Dead Men's Path" by Chinua Achebe explores the clash between traditional African beliefs and European ideas of modernity introduced during the colonial period in Nigeria. 2) It warns that attempts to modernize a society must be done with care, patience and understanding of local customs to avoid failure. 3) The main character Michael Obi, as a representative of the new Western-educated African elite, disregards local traditions and fails to engage in respectful dialogue, sowing the seeds for destruction of his school and career.

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    What We Can Learn About ....

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    CJ Li
    363 views3 pages
    1) The story "Dead Men's Path" by Chinua Achebe explores the clash between traditional African beliefs and European ideas of modernity introduced during the colonial period in Nigeria. 2) It warns that attempts to modernize a society must be done with care, patience and understanding of local customs to avoid failure. 3) The main character Michael Obi, as a representative of the new Western-educated African elite, disregards local traditions and fails to engage in respectful dialogue, sowing the seeds for destruction of his school and career.

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    1) The story "Dead Men's Path" by Chinua Achebe explores the clash between traditional African beliefs and European ideas of modernity introduced during the colonial period in Nigeria. 2) It warns that attempts to modernize a society must be done with care, patience and understanding of local customs to avoid failure. 3) The main character Michael Obi, as a representative of the new Western-educated African elite, disregards local traditions and fails to engage in respectful dialogue, sowing the seeds for destruction of his school and career.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    363 views3 pages

    What We Can Learn About ....

    Uploaded by

    CJ Li
    1) The story "Dead Men's Path" by Chinua Achebe explores the clash between traditional African beliefs and European ideas of modernity introduced during the colonial period in Nigeria. 2) It warns that attempts to modernize a society must be done with care, patience and understanding of local customs to avoid failure. 3) The main character Michael Obi, as a representative of the new Western-educated African elite, disregards local traditions and fails to engage in respectful dialogue, sowing the seeds for destruction of his school and career.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    Achebe: Dead Mens Path

    Cultural exchange:
    We should not be tempted to classify Dead Mens Path as a mere illustration of a clash
    of cultures, as this would be doing injustice to Achebes story. Naturally, the conflict arises
    between two opposing cultures and their representatives, and at the close of the story
    Michael and Nancy are left with the debris, not only of the school and gardens, but also of
    Michaels career, so the questions arise whether the clash could have been avoided and
    whether Achebe offers any alternatives.
    The story focuses on Achebes concern with dialogue, understanding, compromise and
    common sense, qualities which Michael lacks but which the Ani demonstrates. He stresses
    the need for humility in people who have reaped the benefits of Western education. In
    Michaels case humility and the willingness to enter into a dialogue with his antagonists
    would have paved the way for a cultural exchange which, perhaps, would have enriched
    both cultures.
    Mimicry:
    Michael Obi is the prototypical native who, by adopting and reproducing the colonizers
    cultural habits and values, by becoming himself an agent of European modernization an
    progress, practises mimicry. However, mimicry can be destructive for the individual and
    society, as he attempts to change social mores [= customs and behaviour that are
    considered typical of a particular social group or community/ Sitten und Gebruche] and
    thereby often sows the seeds of his own or of his societys destruction.

    On Achebes Dead Mens Path: the post-colonial era


    Achebe was writing at a time when Africa was trying to shake off her colonial past and
    create a new, post-colonial identity. He saw it as the duty of authors to correct the
    stereotyped images of Africans created by the colonialists and to revive African pride and
    dignity. This could be achieved, he thought, by reminding his fellow Africans of their own
    history and traditions. He was the first African to gain international fame by writing fiction
    about Africa in English and was very influential in encouraging his fellow authors to write
    about African cultures.
    Dead Mens Path illustrates Achebes concern with the effects of modern Western values
    on traditional African society. It describes a clash between European ideas of modernity
    and ancient African beliefs and warns that any attempt to bring progress to a society
    must be handled with care and patience, otherwise it will fail.
    The story is set in 1949, when Nigeria was still under colonial rule. The British ran the
    government and the influential Mission schools, such as the one where Obi is the
    headmaster. Many African writers, including Achebe, warned that the new Britisheducated black elite people like Obi would eventually take over from the colonial
    rulers and might be just as bad for the country, if not worse.
    The fact that Obi is the main character of the story illustrates the change in focus since the
    colonial period. As part of the process of decolonizing the mind post-colonial writers like
    Achebe are more interested in the indigenous peoples (Vlker) than the Europeans. In
    Dead Mens Path there is only brief mention of a European, the white Supervisor who
    comes to inspect the school. African characters are no longer stereotypes, but rounded
    characters with psychological depth. As a consequence of this change in focus the point of
    view has also shifted. Whereas colonialist writers told their stories through the eyes of
    Europeans, postcolonial ones like Achebe are exclusively interested in the point of view of
    their own countrymen.
    From: Ziegsar: Caught between Cultures, Stuttgart (Klett) 2005, p. 126

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