Sayees Yogendran
Professor Frank Runcie
Postcolonial Literature: Africa
09 March 2015 In Chinua Achebe’s Death Men’s Path, the main focus was to share a narrative, which emphasize the conflict between world-views and value systems. This story is about Michael Obi, a modern and ambitious young man who is appointed headmaster of the un-progressive Ndume Central School. Obi hopes to clean up the educational mission field and speed up its Christianizing mission. Chinua Achebe’s The Education of a British-Protected Child and Colonialist Criticism leads the readers to thoroughly understand Dead Men's Path. In Colonist Criticism, the author criticizes the enduring colonialism in the criticism of African literature by non-Africans. The writer states, "If the text is judged from European perspective a text doesn't get right evaluation and the essence of the text is killed" which shows Achebe’s disagreement on the European colonial injustice, a habit of ruling and discriminating other and comparing African people their literature, art and culture. He argues that African literature should not be judged with the official literature since it has its own particularity. The mask of European civilization does not know the history of African people. So Achebe's claim is that colonized people should write their own history disregarding what has been already universalized. According to Achebe, there are two problems with Universalism; first every literature must speak of their own place and culture. It should come from specific people and how their history got involved in their past and present situations. The second problem is that ideological universality that critics find is simply a synonym for the “narrow self-serving parochialism of Europe”. In The Education of a British-Protected Child, Achebe involves both his personal history and the themes he has treated all his writing life. The author states, “it is a gross crime for anyone to impose himself on another, to seize his land and history,” which shows the point of view of the priest in Death Men’s Path when he has the conversation with Obi. The key themes explored in Death Men’s Path are the conflicts between traditional Nigerian culture, beliefs and the modern, westernized ideology established by European colonialism. These contents are similar to the other works, which has been done by Chinua Achebe. As the narrator states, “… it amazes me… that you people allowed the villagers to make use of this footpath. It is simply incredible.” The passage from the text shows the language used by Obi to emphasize the division of beliefs and traditions. Also calling the villagers ‘you people’ are condescending and highlights the distance Obi feels towards the villagers and their rituals. This shows us how Universalism has affect on Obi. Chinua Achebe’s Death Men’s Path emphasizes many issues, which has been covered by the author in his other works. The Education of a British-Protected Child and Colonialist Criticism shares the same topic, which is colonialism and value system of the Igbo. In his work Achebe shows the consequences, which African peoples are facing from the colonization. (488 word)

Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. “Colonist Criticism.” Morning Yet on Creation Day. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1975, 3-28.
Achebe, Chinua. “Dead Men’s Path.” Fiction: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R.S. Gwynn. New York: Penguin, 2008, 265-268.
Achebe, Chinua. “The Education of a British-Protected Child.” The Education of a British Protected Child. Toronto: Anchor Canada, 2010, xi-xiv, 3-24. Print