Comparison between Dead Man's Path and A Tale for Children - Essay Example

Comparison between “Dead Mans Path” and “A Tale for Children” All through the years, the culture of a variety of populations has transformed a number of times, in many distinctive ways, leading to negative reactions from some, as well as approval from others. Cultures have a setting in a manner that even if changes happen, they keep the original value of the former culture, while, at the same time, adding a touch of latest beliefs from a modern era. In Dead Mens Path by Chinua Achebes, Michael Obi who happens to be the headmaster of a progressive school, has distinctive religious beliefs he got from his village. Obi has an intention of closing the path that leads to the burial grounds of the village; however, the villagers contest this action because it puts their heritage, as well as culture into compromise. A persons approach, along with his character in compelling modernization over traditional beliefs is capable of giving rise to conflicts, while, at the same time, resulting into consequences. In Dead Mens Path, the author uses symbols in the setting, as well as characterization in expressing the theme (Achebe 10). In Dead Man’s Path, Obi closes the path to the road that is capable of taking away an opportunity, something that makes this story is a tragedy with a number of symbols. Living in a world that is full of hatred is uneasy, however, living in a world full of happiness happens to be the entire package. In Dead Man’s Path, Obi the chief director of the school makes a wise decision of closing this road since the majority of people in this area go there. Immediately after closing this path, residents begin to get angry; Obi is terrified by the unfolding of these events, especially when people begin coming up to the school, while, at the same time, tearing down everything, not sparing even the school (Elizabeth, Susan & Robert 25). There are a number of horrific things happening within this short story thereby making it a tragedy; being in possession of a school whose path leads to the dead turns out to be an idea that is that amusing. Initially, there is a rise to power when Obi obtains the promotion, which results in him erecting the fence around the school. These actions infuriate the people living in the town; the following day, a pregnant woman, goes into labor, but dies while giving birth, something that infuriates the villagers even more since they think that it is as a result of the closing of that path. It is possible that the baby’s spirit was to exit from where the fence was hence the death of both the mother and baby. After the woman’s death, people assume that if the path was still open, both the woman, as well as the child, would still be alive and safe. When night falls, they take distinctive items and go ahead to tear down the fence, together with the school. These actions lead Obi to think twice concerning this situation; however, he still does not understand what he did wrong that led to the tragic fall of the fraying down of the fence. In this case, there is a perception of death or death symbolism as following the death of the woman, as well as her baby (Achebe 35). Dead Man’s Path turns out to be a tragedy comprising of a number of symbols. Living for the duration of that time was probably the hardest thing; however, the people of the town succeed in getting through these hard times. Obi fails in understanding that every person in life is in need of a path to walk on, as well as a place to set off in the future. Although Obi’s intention was to help the people in the village, in reality he did remarkably little in helping them, thereby ended up hurting them even much more (Elizabeth, Susan & Robert 68). A Tale for Children is quite different compared to Dead Man’s Path; considering that it is distinctive of a style referred to as magic realism, which is closely incorporated with its author, the Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who is a Colombian novelist. This imaginative style brings together realistic, daily details with constituents of fantasy that blur the readers normal differences between reality, as well as magic. However, unlike other imagination works like fairy tales or folk legends, these stories of magic realism result in no morals or absolute truths; they tend to present a rich, as well as vivid world of magical probabilities, while, at the same time, frustrating and setting hurdles in the readers efforts of fixing a definite meaning to occurrences (Márquez 12). In A Tale for Children, it is a sad world when Pelayo finds an old man who has large and weathered wings, trapped in the mud following a three days’ rain. The beach happens to be a mixture of rotting crabs, together with sludge, and the stench is everywhere; to make matters worse, Pelayos baby has a fever. Since the strange visitor has wings and speaks a language that is unknown, no one is certain about who or what he is, especially since he appears to be extremely frail to be a supernatural being. One of the neighbors thinks that he is an angel who came to take the baby. Pelayo, together with his wife Elisenda, assume that he is either a sailor or castaway; however, Father Gonzaga, who is the parish priest, believes that the old man is an imposter, rather than an angel but rather an imposter (Martin 24). After scrutinizing this man who has wings, the doctor concludes that it is impractical for such a being to be alive; this leads to the locking down of the old man in a chicken coop, while, at the same time, treated like a freak. Residents pay five cents to see him, and after a while, Pelayo and Elisenda collect money that is enough for building a mansion while their newborn child recovers from sickness. When the boy becomes older, both he, as well as the old man with wings get chicken pox infection. Although the young boy undergoes ideal treatment, the old man is mistreated, while at the same time, gets burned with a branding iron; eating eggplant mush as his food. After some time, this town gets visits from a variety of carnival attractions comprising of a woman changed into a spider as a result of defying her parents. Eventually, people lose interest in the old man, who gets fever one winter and is delirious; however, he not only outlives but also grows new wings. His awkward attempts at flight subsequently improve, which leads to him to disappear into the horizon. The title character turns out to be extremely unusual as a result, his wings, together with the ability of flying, something that differentiates the strange visitor from common men. Apart from that, he has extraordinary patience, as well as acceptance of suffering, something that lacks from the ordinary men. Furthermore, marvelous things take place when he is around, for instance, the rain ends, improvement of the childs health and Pelayo and Elisenda prosper. Additionally, a number of wacky miracles happen, for instance, a blind man fails in regaining his vision, and rather, he sprouts new teeth (Márquez 46). In simple terms, this is a story about what takes place when an angel arrives in town. Although its name is A Tale for Children this is by no means a straightforward story; its setting is in no ordinary town while its visitor turns out to be no ordinary angel, as a matter of fact he may even be an angel at all. In the majority of the instances, he appears to be disappointingly ordinary, as well as human, in spite of his extraordinary appearance. He contradicts their anticipations the characters seem thoroughly unable of understanding him; their predictable wisdom, along with superstitious beliefs directs them into ridiculous explanations for his unexpected visit, thereby treating him in a manner that appear to be cruel, unjust, as well as ignorant. Magic realism has turned out to be a popular, as well as influential form, appealing a broad readership, along with a great deal of interest coming from literary scholars. Coming from the stories, together with legends of his rural South American childhood, along with his study of the advanced mechanisms of modernist writers, Garcia Marquez brings out a rich, as well as suggestive fictional landscape, which challenges traditional perceptions and focuses the readers awareness on the difficult, subtle work of understanding the world (Martin 71). Work Cited: Achebe, Chinua. Girls at war, and other stories. Ogidi: Doubleday, 1972. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan Day, Robert Funk. Literature and the writing process. Chicago: Prentice Hall, 2002. Márquez, Gabriel García. Leaf Storm and Other Stories. Colombia: HarperCollins, 2005. Martin, Gerald. The Cambridge Introduction to Gabriel Garciá Márquez. Pittsburgh.: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Read More