Lerner uses the “grocer” and the “chief” to create a platform that differentiates between traditional and modern paradigms. The chief is most concerned with inherited/familial heritage as a source of confirmation of his authority. His daily life is ruled solely by what takes place within the walls of the local village, very rarely extending beyond to the external world. Lerner would regard the chief as a traditionalist due to his lack of interest in the outside world.  Contrary, the grocer is Lerner’s symbol of modernity. The “modern man” (the grocer in this case) attempted to dedicate most aspects of his life to the external world, most often described as wearing more modern clothing, profiting on “modern items”, and an internal longing to be somewhere other than where he resides that is more foreign/municipal to him.

 There are many issues with Lerner’s model, one being his view suffers from “orientalism”, a term that refers to a phenomenon when institutions of power subconsciously dominate other cultures and countries historically by using ideas or language that subverts the culture that it is dominating while simultaneously asserting its own dominance an establishing its own superiority. Lerner is not a reliable narrator or source of authority because he assumes the West as being “modern”. His preconceived ideas of modernity are most likely extremely different than those who are not of the West. Furthermore, because he considers himself as coming from a “modern-world”, how he perceives Balgat is lacking contemporary counterparts. The epitome of modernity for Balgat is to imitate the West by increasing economic sectors and democracy.