Reading Log of "Dead Men's Path"
Reading Log
Reading The Dead Men’s Path by Chinua Achebe, I feel that it focuses on the same topic as The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen, by Bruno Lessing, which both discussed the issue of cultural differences and what one should do when he is in a new environment where the culture is quite different from that of his own.
But a further reading makes me aware that there are actually some differences between the two stories. While the latter one emphasized the fact that one, in order to fit into a new environment, should not give up his own culture but uphold it and pursue his success by hard working, the former story tells the opposite that one should not make comments on a different culture only based on his own background but should he respect the local people and their beliefs.
As a student majoring in Sociology, I know how bad it could be if we comment things only based on our own cultural background, which could only make us consider other different cultures strange and incredible. Since the people are in different places in the world, live in different environments and enjoy different histories, the cultures developed can not be exactly the same.
Sometimes we may find some customs of a certain culture entirely wrong according to science, but we should still respect the custom because this is one part of the local culture, which has its own history and enjoys local peoples’ believes. For example, in the story, for Michael Obi the dead men's path is only a plain path crossing the school, for we know that dead men could never come back. So it should, of course, be blocked so that students in the school will not be interrupted by the local inhabitants passing by. But if we consider things from the perspective of the local people, we may easily find that the path is something related to their belief in their ancestors, and the block of the path is considered something unlucky.
Therefore, if one wants to break the local rule and make a change in the local custom, such as what Obi did, he may find it extremely hard to conduct because of the objections of the local people. And sometimes if he really commits the action, he might be revenged by the local people and “their ancestors”, that is to say, by the local culture.
Daisy
24.5.07 06:28
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