“That day, the white Supervisor came to inspect the school and wrote a nasty report on the state of the premises but more seriously about the “tribal-war situation developing between the school and the village, arising in part from the misguided zeal of the new headmaster” (2).

This quote is full of irony, which is part of the reason why I enjoyed it so much as the end of the story. All that Obi is concerned about throughout this story is turning the school into a “place of beauty”, but he seems to have his ideas backwards. He does not realize that the school is already beautiful; that what makes it so is the rich history that it encompasses and spirituality on its own property. He is concerned that the Government Education Officer will scorn the footpath if he sees it or sees anyone near it, doing what they believe it is made for. However, even the officer- a white man- understands the value of the footpath. Obi does not want his culture and village people to be looked down upon by the white man for their traditions, but in the end it is what Obi himself is doing that ends up being viewed as a “tribal-war situation”. On top of his displeasure with Obi and how he is trying to overtake such a precious piece of property, the white Supervisor also wrote a “nasty” report on the condition of the premises, which was ironic in itself because Obi had also been so concerned about the physical upkeep of the property and it had only taken one night for all his work to go to waste. Obi seems to have adapted the mindset that is becoming more and more prevalent in our own society today: that what’s old is useless and ugly, and what’s new and flashy will always triumph. This story did a good job of reflecting upon this mindset and the destruction it can cause, because this newfound, unwritten rule of new things being better is hardly true at all. Adapting such a mindset can only cause destruction of valuable things, as exhibited quite clearly in this story.