Taxes - “Vengeful Creditor”
Taxes (to back up ‘free education’) typify communism. Minister of Finance asserts: “We should talk lightly about new taxes unless we are prepared to bring the Army to quell tax riots.” The tax riots may supervene should the government institute supplementary taxes as the citizens are likely to consider the taxes unwarranted.
Allegory of Jesus - “Vengeful Creditor”
Achebe writes, “So when Martha’s husband died (or as those missionary artisans who taught him long ago might have put it-when he was called to higher service in the heavenly mansions by Him who was Himself once a Carpenter on earth).” Alluding to Jesus alleviates Martha’s discomfort of being bereaved. The allusion means that death is not the dissolution of life, but an invitation to “higher service” which is more divine than the worldly activities.
Mercedes 220S - “Vengeful Creditor”
Mr. Emenike owns a Mercedes 220S. The Mercedes denotes class superiority. Not all the people in Mr. Emenike’s village can pay for such an exclusive car as most of them reel in unqualified paucity.
The Path - “Dead Men’s Path”
The path denotes the conjunction of existence and death. The priest enlightens Obi, “"this path was here before you were born and before your father was born. The whole life of this village depends on it. Our dead relatives depart by it and our ancestors visit us by it. But most important, it is the path of children coming in to be born . . . " Therefore, the path is an indispensable bond in the entire society’s survival. The path’s permanency denotes that the community venerates the path, so Obi’s endeavor to eliminate the path is an incursion on the society’s frame.
