The conflict between modern and traditional culture continues to have a significant impact on people with strong cultural beliefs. In “Dead Men’s Path”, Chinua Achebe uses literary elements of setting, symbolism, conflict and irony to analyze the theme of cultural conflict between people with modern values and traditional culture. To set the background, Achebe begins the story with a twenty-six years old young man being elected as a principal of a rural school located in a village in Nigeria during British colonization in the first month of 1949. He sets the mood beginning with happiness, as the protagonist Michael Obi receives the new assignment as principal of the school and enthusiastically prepares for the new school year, and ends the …show more content…
To further enhance the story, Achebe intentionally chooses the harmful allamanda vine to fence the sacred path of the residents to symbolize alienation. Scientifically, allamanda vines have bountiful yellow pompon with a delicate scent and are used for decoration mostly to cover large areas. Besides the beautiful aspect of the flower, the plant contains a toxic substance that if consumed it can be deadly. It is conspicuous, why this plant was used to cover the sacred path. To the contrary of allamanda vine, the author chooses “beautiful hibiscus” (Achebe 11) to symbolize another aspect of cultural difference and the need to harmonize the two together. Hibiscus is a graceful plant with beautiful red flower heads signifying unity and peace. It is understandable, that is the author’s desire to convey the message of the importance of unity among cultures. In like manner, both the hibiscus and allamanda vine, are extrinsic floras comparing to the local “neighborhood bushes.” (Achebe 11) It is the author’s way of using the shrubs as a symbol of cultural difference. In relation to the flower images, Achebe uses the path symbolic image to signify the meaning of the divine connection between the “village shrine” (Achebe 11) and their descendants. For the villagers, the pathway is a sacred path to which they remain connected with their dead families. To shortly mention,
Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures-national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, there is a cultural collision that takes the form of the missionaries coming to Umuofia and forcing their religion upon the people. Different people react differently to this clash of cultures, ranging from simply conforming to going as far as killing somebody.
Change is a reoccurring theme throughout history. It destroys and creates. It displaces and introduces. It can cause death and life. The movement of imperialism in Africa brought great change to the native tribal life. Forcing the indigenous people to turn away from their century-old traditions caused violent rifts between the European settlers and the tribes, as well as internal problems between once amiable members of the Ibo culture. With the introduction of the foreign Western Society in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the tribe’s life and ideals are drastically altered as the new ethics and principles collide with the old traditions and laws, causing the members of the society to either adapt or be crushed underneath the foot of colonialism. Achebe’s character, Okonkwo, was impacted immensely by the cultural collision, as his previous way of life was pulverized before his eyes, and he found no reason to live any longer.
It is clear that cultural tradition delivers set foundations into a person’s lifetime, giving identity and sense of belonging to a person and their social group. It allows individuals to feel part of something and understand their ancestral values and customs. Several people believe that it is very important to preserve cultural traditions because they feel as if tradition is the main enabler to a shared identity and to a construction of social consistency and unity. People also believe that conservancy of cultural traditions forms exclusive bonds within members of the community, holding people with the same background together to pass on cultural values, and excluding those who aren’t part of the culture. They think that the actual preservation of traditions means not to change the customs and traditions, to not grow from our culture, for example not learning another language because you already know your mother tongue. It is a way to group up and tag everyone in a form of an alliance, and to have better organization and awareness of where everyone comes from.
Achebe produces a theme throughout “A Dead Man’s Path” based on the conflict of change through the path, a barbed wire fence, a biblical allusion, and setting throughout the story. The literary devices allow for the reader to establish a strong interpretation of the effects of change and how people within society refuse to adapt from their traditional ways. This story accurately captures the struggle between a new generation and traditional way of life. Even with forced modernization, the refusal of change causes conflict in an ever-changing
The symbol of the anacahuita tree is essential throughout the book because it binds the Mirabal family in numerous ways, such as Dede’s self awareness, courage and memories are all represented by the tree. This is why when Dede sees the anacahuita tree she connects it with something sentimental, just like this good memory that she is remembering. The anacahuita tree
Intra-cultural relations are historically filled with conflict; and to deal with this conflict: Gloria Anzaldua’s concepts of opposing cultures and language barriers, John Locke’s Equality theory, and Kwame Anthony Appiah’s global citizenship theory explores the issue and works towards better relations. According to Anzaldua, people are not of one culture, but in several cases, several clashing, distinct cultures. Anzaldua argues that language is part of our identity, and it is a barrier between cultures, sometimes even our own. While Locke argues, we are all created equal, we may not be treated equal. Once society can deal with these problems, it can move forward towards Kwame Anthony Appiah’s global citizenship theory.
The poem describes the weather and its effect on cotton flower by pointing out the dying branches and vanishing cotton. The image of insufficiency, struggle and death parallel the oppression of African American race. The beginning of the poem illustrates the struggle and suffering of the cotton flower; which represent the misery of African Americans and also gives an idea that there is no hope for them. But at the end the speaker says “brown eyes that loves without a trace of fear/ Beauty so sudden for that time of year” (lines 13-14). This shows the rise of the African American race, and their fight against racism. The author used mood, tone and
The friendship between the two young girls before the realization of their differences represents rich soil. Given these images, the reader can create a connection of what the authors is trying to convey.
The path, hard-packed from thousands of bare feet that had trod on it for decades, was flanked on both sides by fat, fruit-laden mango trees, the sweet smell of which always seemed to welcome her home.” (Chapter 1, p.2).The narrator speaks on amari who loves enjoying things she never afraid of anything.Amari loves her home and she thinks its so sweet.The narrator wanna show how Amari she is, the way she appreciate things in her life.Even though their whites in her village she still shows how to put a smile on her face.The narrator wants to readers to show how she so grateful for things.Also how she grateful for her family and
This is particularly evident within drifters were a families sense of identity is continuously hampered by their nomadic lifestyle with they must embrace as itinerant workers. Throughout the poem, the blackberry bush is constantly referred to as a symbol of hope that the family would settle into one location “when they came here, she held out her hand bright with berries”. The use of such a symbol brings to light the similarity between the drifter’s erratic life journey and the blackberry bush. As the family move into a town they begin to embrace there environment, only to end the experience as quickly as it began similarly to the blackberry bushes cycle of growth and ‘bright berries’ only to wither and die. This ultimately displays the emotional obstacles within a physical journey that reinforces our inner strength. Furthermore, the negative and positive aspects of the journey of life experienced by the characters are highlighted through the juxtaposing of the girls reaction to the decision to move, “the oldest girl was close to tear/ the youngest girl was beaming”. The positive element of the a family being an individual’s sense of support and identity is vaguely portrayed, however the overwhelming negative sense that such a family provides and undesirable predetermined script of one’s life is emphasised as in this instance it has impeded on the girls growth. This ultimately increases the responder’s awareness of the underlying emotional journey within every physical journey, increasing the inner strength of those that choose to take such
Secondly the Pomegranate tree can be seen as a symbol of Amir and Hassan friendship, childhood innocence and shelter. The tree is presented to the reader in two different states. When the tree appears in the first part of the story, in chapter 4, the tree is shown as being fruitful and blooming with ‘blood red’
In this short story “Dead Men’s Path,” Chinua Achebe gives the protagonist an exciting chance to fulfill his dream. Michael Obi was fixed officially headmaster of Ndume Central School, which was backward in every sense. He had to turn the school into a progressive one, however the school received a bad report when the supervisor came to inspect. Why did the school get a nasty report and Obi could not become a glorious headmaster even though he put his whole life into it? In order to find out the answer, we have to examine Michael Obi’s personality and the event that made the supervisor to write an airier result.
Chinua Achebe shows the reader the change of Africa as seen by the main character of the novel, Okonkwo. Okonkwo has the hardship of living in an ever-changing society. It is thru Okonkwo that the reader is able to visualize a society of immense cultural standing, and not as European colonizers would say, a society of savages. The main theme of culture is present in all areas of the novel, which helps to show to the reader all of its underlying themes, themes of tradition and themes of religion. Achebe sees the themes of culture, tradition, and religion in one bright light and European colonizers see those same themes in a totally different, somewhat snobbish dim light. However these themes are viewed, one thing is certain, change is on the horizon.
In “Dead Man’s Path,” Chinua Achebe uses character, diction, and setting to illustrate how unwillingness to change never results in a positive outcome. The characters of Obi and Ani are very stubborn in their ways refuse to give in to each other’s beliefs. The stubbornness displayed by each character intensifies the tension between the traditional village and the contemporary school. The conflict in this story highlights a problem that is still deeply rooted in society today, resistance to
Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” chronicles the life of Okonkwo, a strong man whose existence is dominated by fear and anger, and the Ibo tribe, a people deeply rooted in cultural belief and tradition. As events unfold, Okonkwo’s carefully constructed world and the Ibo way of life collapses. The story of Okonkwo’s fall from a respected and feared leader of the Ibo tribe to an outcast who dies in disgrace dramatizes his inability to evolve beyond his personal beliefs, affecting the entire Ibo tribe beyond measure. The “things” that fall apart in Achebe’s novel are Okonkwo’s life – his ambition, dreams, family unity and material wealth – and the Ibo way of life – their beliefs, culture and values.