Dead Mans Path, And The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

One of the most significant challenges to face mankind throughout history is how to bring diverse cultures together to achieve harmony and trust in the interest of working together for the benefit of the next generation. The short stories, â€Å"Dead Man’s Path† by Chinua Achebe and â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson, as well as the poem, â€Å"Theme for English B† by Langston Hughes all demonstrate how culture, tradition, and education work together to affect one’s worldview and the common threads that link them together. â€Å"Dead Man’s Path† is a story about cultural conflict and how the need for respect and communication are integral to a balance between honoring traditions and embracing modern ideas. â€Å"The Lottery† is a short story about human nature,†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Dead Man’s Path† was one of Achebe’s earliest works and was inspired by his heritage and experience of growing up in a household that blended western education and literature with native religious tradition. Achebe, a highly influential political writer, novelist, poet, professor and literary critic, sought to cultivate positive political change between the nationalist state movement and the British empire leadership (â€Å"Chinua Achebe,† Barksdale-Hall). Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930 during a time of political and social unrest and raised in the village of Ogidi which was a focal point of the Anglican missionary work. â€Å"Dead Man’s Path† recounts the story of Michael Obi, a young married teacher who is selected as the new headmaster of a mission school in Africa and hopes to use his position as an opportunity to incorporate modern ideas. Obi’s notions of modernity are mostly external and entail cleaning the school grounds and introducing European landscaped gardens. Obi’s wife, Nancy, who â€Å"had become completely infected by his passion for â€Å"modern methods,†Ã¢â‚¬  is excited about being the wife of the new headmaster and transforming the terrain of the school to have â€Å"such beautiful gardens and everything will be modern and delightful† (543). Obi’s two goals that he hoped to achieve were a â€Å"high standard of teaching†¦and that the school compound be turned into a place of beauty† (544). He begins revamping the school premise, and upon seeing a woman walk acrossShow MoreRelatedLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 PagesRichard Gould, Kenneth King, Marjorie Lee, Elizabeth Perry, Heidi Wackerli, Perry Weddle, Tiffany Whetstone, and the following reviewers: David Adams, California State Polytechnic University; Stanley Baronett, Jr., University of Nevada-Las Vegas; Shirley J. Bell, University of Arkansas at Monticello; Phyllis Berger, Diablo Valley College; Kevin Galvin, East Los Angeles College; Jacquelyn Ann Kegley, California State University-Bakersfield; Darryl Mehring, University of Colorado at Denver; Dean