The path
An imaginary line between the villagers' burial ground and their worship area, the path is not often used, but is essential (in the villagers' animistic belief system) for transmitting the souls of newborns, the dead, and ancestors of the village.
The flowers
Nancy Obi attempts to beautify and modernize the grounds of the school, but the new flowers are "trampled to death" after the villagers open up the dead men's path when they remove the fences placed by Headmaster Obi. The flowers represent the frailty of the roadblock Michael Obi and his modern reform-minded educators put up, which is of course trampled by the long-held animist beliefs of the local population.
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Themes[edit]
Cultural conflict between modern ideas and traditional animist beliefs
The tribal culture's animistic beliefs come into conflict with the modern ideology as personified by Headmaster Michael Obi.
Ignorance of others' beliefs
In the same way that Michael Obi does not tolerate the locals' animistic beliefs, the locals do not respect the right of property for the school grounds. The conflict reaches such a level that the white supervisors describes it as a "'tribal-war situation.'"
Twice makes a tradition
Despite Michael Obi's efforts, the villagers cannot imagine a path for the souls of the dead which would not cross the school grounds.
The zeal of the reform-minded African culture
Michael Obi holds ideological hostility to traditional African animist beliefs, believing that such ideas need to be "eradicated." His zeal actually contrasts with that of the white supervisor, who comments on Obi's "misguided zeal" as being useless.