Deadmans_Path

The theme of the short story “Dead Man’s Path” is basically a mixture of traditional methods vs. the modern-day methods. The point being portrayed is that tradition should not be ignored. Tradition is especially foremost important to the present. Now days we consider the traditional beliefs nothing more than a variety of folk tales and forget to indulge in the many morals left to be practiced and learned. The pace in which the story is written from each told experience and with such little detail the theme is lost within retrospect and becomes insignificant. Though the events are written with great simplicity, the story has no originality it just follows the classical fictional plot pattern. It demonstrates all of the given elements of plot which include exposition, falling action, climax, etc... The first encounter of crossing pathways between western lifestyle and the traditional lifestyle is when Nancy is reading a women’s magazine and is influenced to “… have such beautiful gardens and everything will be just modern and delightful…” . Nancy wanted to plant this garden throughout the pathway to the burial ground of the villagers. The problem of this pathway was that it went through the school grounds, and Michael thought this was absolutely ridiculous. After the garden was planted an elderly woman walked across a flower-bed of marigolds and hedges. Michael was very unhappy with this, and in spite of the woman walking through this newly planted garden he put up stick and later strengthened the fence with barbed wire. When informed of this insult to the ancestors, the priest of Ani explained to Michael of how the path cannot be closed off, for the dead cannot reside to their burial grounds, and the children are not able to come into life. Michael mocked the priest’s efforts in saving the pathway and denied him of his wishes. The incredible irony of this short story and the given title is displayed in a very obvious way. “Dead men’s path” is the conflict throughout the entire story. The headmaster believed the pathway in which crossed through the school compound gave his students insufficient beliefs and his goal was to have the students laugh at such ideas of a path to death. In contrast the villagers believed they could only move onto the next life and have rebirth if the path was reopened. Once the pathway was closed a woman had died while having a baby, and the baby did not survive, which proves the irony of the “Dead men’s path” when one has no guidance to where they should go they will never reach their final destination.