Societal Reformation: “Words, Sweet Words” and “Dead Men’s Path”
In “Words, Sweet Words” by Jacqueline Guidry, the story revolves around the idea of social reform. Social reform occurs when a society aims to make gradual changes. These changes often aim to be for the better, but they do not always turn out this way. This concept is not noticeable until the end when the narrator expresses her sorrow of how her society has changed from when she was a kid. The narrator grows up in a town that is protected by “a cocoon of Samson hair guarding against outsiders;” this cocoon is their French language (Guidry). The word “cocoon” suggests a place of safety and comfort, as if the French people living in this town were trying to shelter themselves from the outsiders. However, the start of social reform begins when a little man comes to introduce a fertilizer to the narrator’s town. When a little English speaking man came to the town in hopes of selling a “miraculous” fertilizer to the town, initially he had failed to convince the town to use the fertilizer due to a language barrier. Even though the narrator’s father had helped by translating the little man’s advertisements, no one was convinced. However, as time passes, other people try to sell the fertilizer to the town, and the town slowly begins to learn to speak English. The fertilizer being introduced into the town was an indirect way of changing the society’s comfort zone and allowing them to break out of their cocoon. But the fertilizer changes society in other ways. When the fertilizer is introduced, it initially does not have much effect on society; however, “what the little man started, others finished,” and “with each passing year, they grew more convincing” (Guidry). Although there could have been other ways the narrator’s town was influenced to transition into speaking English, the fertilizer is one of the ways the town in which the narrator lived slowly began to speak English in order to do business with the people that brought the fertilizer.
As the narrator explains how time quickly passed by, she says, “I didn’t notice growing old. One day I was a child, the next old enough to have been wise. One day I could fish hours in our bayou, next day my line tangled on pieces of metal or crushed cans floating among catfish and bass. No one knew when these things happened” (Guidry). The imagery of the pieces of metal and crushed cans floating in the bayou is analogical to how the narrator thought the French cocoon was almost unbreakable and strong, but eventually the cocoon breaks and begins to adapt to the changes brought in by the little man. The expression shows how the narrator’s town went through major changes, but time passed too quickly for the narrator to get a grasp on the changes. She is sad because she misses her cocoon of the French language surrounding her daily life as she is now surrounded by her children and her grandchildren speaking English, rather than French. The way she describes her native language mirrors the beauty of the French language as she depicts it as “a long unbroken stream of soft, rolling sounds” whereas the English language “couldn’t help sounding stiff and proud” (Guidry). I think Guidry chose to use the word “stream” in describing her native language because a stream is often associated with the concept of continuous flow in a certain direction. Therefore, by using the word “stream,” Guidry is able to illustrate a language that is continuously flowing without any abrupt and stiff stops.
Another similar story of change in social context can be seen in “Dead Men’s Path” by Chinua Achebe. Mr. Obi was appointed headmaster to a Ndume Central School and “had many wonderful ideas and this was an opportunity to put them to practice;” the wife of Mr. Obi is also “infected” with the idea of modernism (Achebe). Modernism, in “Dead Men’s Path” is defined through the standards of Mr. Obi and his wife. Mr. Obi shows modernism through his education as he “had had sound secondary education which designated him a ‘pivotal teacher'” (Achebe). Mr. Obi’s wife is modern through her dreams of having other teacher’s wives envying her position, by setting the fashion in everything, and by having beautiful gardens in the school yard (Achebe). The modern character of Mr. Obi interferes with a village’s foot path that leads directly into school grounds. Being arrogant to the importance of the foot path, Mr. Obi put up a fence around the school grounds to keep villagers from treading through the garden and school. The clash between modern and traditional culture takes place as the fence is put up. This fence’s sole purpose was to prevent the villagers from treading into the gardens and the school yard as a means to keep peace. However, through the ignorance of Mr. Obi’s actions, he disrespects the village’s traditional culture by blocking the foot path for the ancestral spirits and spirits of the unborn. As a result, a “young woman in the village died in childbed” two days later and a diviner was consulted and he “prescribed heavy sacrifices to propitiate ancestors insulted by the fence” (Achebe). This shows the villagers’ belief in this path and the importance of trying to understand the importance of other culture’s regardless of the differences. Because Mr. Obi did not try to come to an agreement with the village in regards to the fence, the village experienced a death. Although there is no actual proof that Mr. Obi is the cause of the death, the villagers believed that the death was a result of the foot path being blocked.
Although the two stories’ circumstances are different, similarities between “Dead Men’s Path” and “Words, Sweet Words”occur in how society changes which produces clashes between cultures. In “Dead Men’s Path,” we see how the school’s modern culture clashes with the village’s traditional culture because of Mr. Obi’s lack of understanding the village’s culture and importance of the foot path. He is engulfed by the thoughts of modern reformation causing him to be blinded to the meaning and traditions of the others around him. In “Words, Sweet Words,” the narrator is saddened because the following generations after her slowly begin to learn and adapt to the English language, resulting in the loss of the French language. This is analogical to modern culture and traditional culture. English is the modern culture, and French is the traditional culture. There is a constant internal battle within the narrator as she longs to hear French from her children and her grandchildren. The narrator is concerned that with age, she will not be able to “understand anything but the sweet, secret French of [her] infancy,” as she is “only an old woman who hears French in her dreams and longs to hear is from her children…a long unbroken stream of soft, rolling sounds” (Guidry). She describes her French language as something that is dearly cherished and near to her heart. Nostalgia is seen through her expressions of her longing of French to return to her town. The narrator only dreams and longs for the day her town becomes the French cocoon it was before the little man came to town. As the “modern” town begins to coexist with whatever remains of the French, there will always be a push pull relationship with the narrator and her thoughts and longings. The only way for both societies in “Dead Men’s Path” and “Words, Sweet Words” to coexist without a push pull relationship is to create a way to understand the needs of the modern and traditional cultures. Through understanding, Mr. Obi and the old priest would have discussed a solution in which both parties are satisfied. The narrator would have talked with her children her desires of them speaking French, or she could have taught them herself. In both of these stories, society continues to change; however, there were people that could not find a different way to solving their problems and was therefore disappointed. If there had been more efficient conversations between the people, I think major problems would have been avoided.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. “Dead Man’s Path.” Girls at War and Other Stories. New York: Anchor, 1991. N. pag. Web.
Guidry, Jacqueline. “Words, Sweet Words.” N.p.: New Stone Circle, n.d. N. pag. Web.