Hashem 1

Name: Karim A. Hashem

SID: 900120592
Date: 7/3/2017
Instructor: Dr. Osama Andrew Young
Dead Mens Path Stages and Lines Analysis
Dead Mens Path is a short story about a young headmaster who
has been appointed to a new school in order to make it better. Full of
passion and energy, the young headmaster and his wife were eager to
work at the new school. The young headmaster found a path that leads
to the graveyards of a villagers ancestors, which passes through his
school. Michael Obi, the headmaster, wanted to get rid of that path for
two main reasons. First, there were a government officer coming to
evaluate the school. Second, after knowing that the burial is important
to the villagers as they depend on it for their dead people, he wanted
to get rid of these ideas and to start educate the villagers properly.
Therefore, Obi planted heavy sticks in the ground to block the path.
When the officer came to visit, one of his comments were the blocked
road to the burial shrine. He warned him that he should open it again,
but Obi did not listen to his warning. Few days, the villagers revolted
and broke the sticks and made a mess of the school and the officer
then came and wrote a bad report about the schools condition.
In the essence of lines analysis, Michael Obi had lines that were
underdeveloped. Even though he was so energetic and eager to work
at the new school and had a vision of changing the school and the
villagers for the better, his cognitive line was a bit underdeveloped.
Michael Obi was able to see his goal clearly but was unable to see how
he could reach/attain it and the consequences of his impulsiveness and
stubbornness, which is one of the reasons why the villagers revolted
and made a mess of the school. Also, his interpersonal skills were very
poorly developed. He decided to plant the heavy sticks without even
informing or talking the villagers, because he knew that they would
disagree, but then he should have tried to convince them. Even though
the officer warned him to re-open the path again, he did not listen to
him due to his stubbornness and lack of vision, thinking he was doing
the right thing. Another underdeveloped line for Michael Obi would be
spirituality as he takes the villagers ancestors too lightly. He is a very
realistic person, who follow rules and discipline. Still, he could have
built another road for the graveyard first, before blocking the current
one. Also, he could have spoken to the villagers first, instead of just
acting on his own. Some of them might have supported him. Moreover,
 Hashem 2

he need to win them over not make enemies of them in order to able
to reach his goal of educating them and making the school a better
place. In terms of stage, colors, Michael Obi was somewhere between
amber and orange colors, since he valued rules and discipline as well
rationality and science and was self-reliant. Nancy, Obis wife, was also
at the orange stage, but had a bit of reddish. When she first realized
that the teachers might not be married and have no wives to look and
talk about her, but that for a few moments then she shared her
husbands happiness and eagerness to work at school. When it comes
the villagers, the villagers would be at magenta because they believe
too much into their ancestors spirits and were furious of the thought of
not being able to visit them. As for the officer, he would be at the
green stage, since he was educated, but foresaw what would happen if
Obi did not re-open the path once again, which indicates that he
valued pluralism and equality.