Reading Log

The Struggle of a Pioneer, the Sorrow of His Destined Failure

Michael Obi is an ambitious and energetic young headmaster. He has many wonderful ideas and strongly desires to donate all his time and energy to his job, changing the unprogressive school into a modern one with a high standard of teaching and a place of beauty. He is the representative of modern methods.

I really love such a character, or such type of persons in real life, as I myself am not and can hardly transform into such a type of personality. They are energetic and initiative. New ideas occur to their quick minds from time to time. They also have definite goals and will stick to the path to fulfill them. No matter the difficulties and the frustration they may meet with, they adjust their direction but never give up halfway.

The brilliant description of Obi’s wife’s dream-gardens in the story impresses me very much. “Nancy’s dream-gardens came to life with the coming of the rains, and blossomed. Beautiful hibiscus and allemande hedges in brilliant red and yellow marked out the carefully tended school compound from the rank neighbourhood bushes.” The whole thing is so wonderful that there seem to imply a bright future of the school, a modern place of dependence and democracy, and a paradise where blind religious beliefs are to be eradicated.

However, things always go like that, the more you expect, the more disappointed you will get. The conservative religion power is strong and infrangible. Obi’s failure is destined due to the time when he is living. All his plans are obstructed by the opposite faction and vanish like bubbles at last.

It’s by no means a sad story. Obi, a person who might bring the innovation to the old world is finally defeated. I feel so sorry that he has no chance to realize his dream and rescue the school and all the students from the dark control of the religion power and the stupid beliefs. Such an ending enables us to hear the voice of appealing for dependence, as well as to remember such heroes throughout the history of mankind, Nicolaus Copernicus as an example.

25.5.07 02:58