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Dead Men's Path Theme

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“Dead men’s path” In today’s generation, it’s common for individuals to take in the rich culture and traditions. Most of the time, individuals do not have the proper knowledge and consider major aspects, like historical events, as the past. In Michael Obi’s case, he does not take in consideration the value, traditions of beliefs when it comes to the historical pathway on the school campus. How individuals approach and act in imposing modernization over traditional beliefs can give rise to conflicts and could end in consequences. In the short story “Dead Men’s Path” Chinua Achebe uses the truth behind the change of the historical area as a great debate and the used of symbols in the setting to express the theme. There are many symbols about the culture that was demonstrated in Achebe’s short story’s setting. The main one Achebe uses is the path. The path is a connection between the village shrine and their place of burial. In the short story, the village priest states to Obi “This path was here before you were born and before your father was born. The whole life of the village depends on it. Our dead relative of the villagers departs by it and our ancestors visit us by it. It is the path of children coming in to be born”. (Ache 113) The priest tries to explain to Obi that the path was more than just a path. It represents the heritage it the …show more content…

Dead Men’s Path has a historical setting background which comes from Nigeria. In the short story centered around the traditional Igbo society called “Ani” (Achebe 113). Ani is a traditional Africa society entrenched in the heart of the villagers, “the Igbo nevertheless had a sense of cultural unity and the ability to unite for political action”. The differences between Obi and the priest is a reflection of the conflict between modern civilization and traditional culture in a microcosmic setting by causing anger of the modern

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