Commack Schools



Every young child is told to always tell the truth and that being honest is good. However, some truth can create much chaos and is sometimes better left unspoken. In the short story, “Like a Sun,” by R.K. Narayan, the main character has decided to tell the complete truth for one day. Through the use of figurative language, Narayan illustrates that the truth is hard to tell and receive, especially when there are consequences.Narayan uses a simile comparing the truth to the sun to convey the idea that the truth is something that nobody likes to face directly. At the beginning of his experiment to tell the truth, the main character reflects on the idea of the truth: “‘Truth,’ Sekhar reflected, ‘is like the sun. I suppose no human being can ever look it straight in the face without blinking or being dazed’” (1). Sekhar feels life is not worth living if people can’t accept the truth, even for one day; however, even he was not prepared for the consequences of his actions. The simile suggests that, like the sun, the truth can be physically hard, even painful, to look at head on. This central idea is further established through the consequences of Sekhar’s actions. When Sekhar’s wife asks him if her meal was good, he answered, “’I’m unable to swallow it”’ (1). Her reaction illustrates how deeply she was wounded by his remark. “He saw her wince and said to himself, ‘Can’t be helped. Truth is like the sun’”(1). His wife “winces,” showing that she is upset by Sekhar’s comment, but the fact that Sekhar reacts by being defensive “Can’t be helped. Truth is like the sun” (1) demonstrates the consequences are hard for him to accept as well. These consequences extend to his interactions with his headmaster. In telling the headmaster the brutal truth about his singing, Sekhar gets burdened with a heavy task and a short deadline. Narayan further develops the central idea through the title of the story, which is a shortened version of Sekhar’s simile “Truth is like the sun.” The title adds an extra layer of meaning to the story by making the connection with Sekhar’s telling the truth to the relatable idea that the sun is very bright and most people find looking directly at the sun hard to do. The repetition of this simile reinforces Narayan’s central idea that the truth can be hard to receive and to give as well. ?NOTE: You should avoid writing about the reader. The task is to write about the central idea and how the author develops that idea using one writing strategy. HOWEVER, if you were going to refer to the reader, it would only be to introduce or sum up how the central idea is relevant in our lives. Below is an example of how you could talk about readers in your conclusion:As to whether being honest is more beneficial to being politely indirect with the truth is left for readers to decide for themselves. Some may suggest that honesty is the foundation of a good society while others might suggest it is better to curtail the truth in order not to hurt another person’s feelings. R.K. Narayan demonstrates the importance of having a balance in telling the truth in his story “Like the Sun.” ................
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