Dead men’s path

Protagonist- Michael Obi

Michael Obi is the main character in the short story Dead men’s path

He causes the main conflict in the story by putting his firm ideologies and
beliefs before the traditional minds of the village people.
Points of view
The short story is told in first person, from Obi’s perspective.

Obi’s point of view causes the reader to sympathise with his own problem,
but also see’s how open- minded he is about the village tradition.
Expositions

Michael Obi becomes the head master at an un-progressive and out dated
school.

Michael Obi’s hopes were fulfilled much earlier than he had expected. H e
was appointed the headmaster of Ndume Central School.
Conflict- Man vs Culture

Mr.Obi’s wife, Nancy, planted a garden at the school, which, coincidently,

was planted on top of an old path which connects the village burial shrine.

One evening as Obi was admiring his work he was scandalized to see an old
women from the village, hobble right across the compound through a buch
of Mari-gold flower bed and the hedger.
Rising actions

Obi decides to close off the path so the villagers can not use it. The local
priest calls on Obi to take action against the wrong doing of Obi’s actions on
the village people.

Heavy sticks were planted closely across the path at the two places where
These were further strengthened with barbed wire.

“Look here, my son,” sad the priest bringing down his walking stick,”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 relatives depart by it and our
ancestors visit us by it, but most important, it is the path of children coming
into be born…”
Climax

Mr.Obi refuses to allow the village people to continue to using the foot path.
He is insensitive their traditions and turns the priest away.
The whole purpose of our school. He finally said, “is to eradicate such beliefs.
Dead men do not require footpaths. The whole idea is to teach are children
to laugh at such ideas.

“What you say may be true” replied the priest, “but we follow the practices
of our fathers.” If you reopen the path we shall have nothing to quarrel
about. What I always say is : Let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch.
Falling action

Only a few days after the conversations with the priest, a women dies in child
birth. Obi wakes days after the death to discover the school grounds have
been destroyed.

Obi woke up next morning among the ruins of his work. The beautiful hedges
were torn up not just near the path but right around the school, the flowers
trampled to death and one of the school buildings pulled down….”