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Truth In R. K. Narayan's Like The Sun

Decent Essays

Buddha said, “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” Truth is a very important part of this story “Like the Sun”. This story features Sekhar. Sekhar is a teacher with a belief that just as people avoid staring at the sun, people avoid confronting the truth. He recognises that people purposely change what they say to avoid hurting others. In order to prove his point he decides to speak only the truth for one day, no matter what the consequences may be. His headmaster who has spent lots of money on music lessons, asks his opinion of his singing. The headmaster's performance is terrible, and Sekhar tells him so. It proves that telling the truth results negatively for Sekhar, but he believes that it is a small price to pay for being honest. “Like the Sun” by R.K. Narayan illustrates the theme that honesty might have negative consequence, but overall is the right thing to do. Narayan illustrate this by showing internal and external conflicts. …show more content…

Every time he tells the truth, it demonstrates an example of internal conflict. Naturally, humans want to be accepted by others. Much of what people say are lies told told while trying to earn approval from others. Sekhar challenges this tendency the most when he is invited to the headmaster’s house to hear his performance. Sekhar had been struggling during the entire performance. Much was at stake depending on what he chose to say about the performance. This is an example of internal conflict because it was a moral decision. Ultimately, he tells the truth that his boss is a terrible musician and is at peace with his conscience. This was the best decision because the headmaster appreciates his honesty, proving that it is

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