[I'm posting my essays on here just in case I ever lose them somehow.]

In “Dead Men’s Path”, Chinua Achebe uses the very sudden and late introduction of a white Supervisor to depict that, in real life, what is ideal does not always happen; in theory, Modern progress and tradition work best in tandem, though because no society is truly perfect, this often doesn't even matter.

Human nature is the wildcard in the seemingly logical sequences of what should happen if something is done. Not all people are rational and may intentionally, or unintentionally use their faulty ideals to judge a situation in a completely inaccurate, detached way. “Dead Man’s Path” has a lot of intricacy in its narrative, where not everything becomes clear until one realizes certain possibilities. The text is heavily biased in the direction of modern progress being paramount compared to tradition, implying that it is in the view of Obi. So it is even more glaring when in the last paragraph of the short story, a “white Supervisor” went to inspect the school (Achebe 4). Generally, a person would not specify the race of another unless it really mattered, especially if they were of that same race. This suggests that Obi is Black and from the same area of the very school he is trying to reform. After receiving his education elsewhere (such as the west), he may have realized a different truth from what the villagers believe, though the way he implements his ‘truth’ is not exactly diplomatic. Despite this, it can be seen that Obi was genuinely trying to reform and make the school better. He honestly thought that what he was doing was right. Yet when the Supervisor arrives to inspect the school, he (the Supervisor) writes a short and heavily simplistic view of what actually transgressed during Obi’s time at Ndume. He uses the term “tribal-war” as if treating the Black people in the village, or possibly Black people in general, considering he includes Obi in his assessment, as barbarians (Achebe 4). He appears to paint it as just an insignificant dispute between a race different from his own. He detaches himself from this “mission” and leaves Obi to take the whole blame even though he likely would have acted similarly if he were in Obi’s position (Achebe 1). Perhaps his opinion on the event would not matter to some. However on a global scale, with this kind of thing happening all the time, it is a huge deal. What most people see is the news coverage of the incident. Usually many different politically diverse news companies detail the event, but in this short story, there seems to be only the white Supervisor. And because the white Supervisor is the one reporting the happening, what the majority of the world sees is consequently only what he saw. And what he saw, or what he claimed to see, may not have been the whole unadulterated truth.

Teacher Comment: Some strong writing, but an interesting reliance on general statements. SEE ME, because you've got some strong tendencies, but a style I don’t see very often.