-^-for posterity-^-

i draw a sun on the board and ask everyone what it is. they all say it’s a sun. i ask them what else it is, or, what it really is. they say, “light”, “brightness”, “heat”, etc.

trying to find a theme in thoreau’s walden is a momentous task. actually finding a theme isn’t the problem. the problem is relating the theme to vietnamese life. the problem is finding a theme that the students will understand.

i decided to teach about the theme, “the truth is inside of all of us. each person must discover what the truth is on their own.” it’s a difficult concept to teach in a confucian society.

“direct your right eye inward, and you’ll discover a thousand regions in your mind” “rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” i try to explain that truth must be discovered by each person. we all make decisions about what to believe and what not to believe. thoreau talks about the ruts of conformity and tradition. thoreau is an individualist.

the idea of individualism doesn’t carry too much weight over here. individualism is selfish and people should not be selfish. no one person has an idea that carries weight. the group must come up with ideas for them to be valid. there is much truth to this.

i talk about how we are all islands. we all receive and give information at our own bidding. we all decide what is accepted on our island and what is rejected. i’m not trying to force my culture down their throats, i’m really just trying help explain it. i talk about how truth must be discovered by each person in the class. i tell them to analyze everything critically. i tell them not to believe what i have told them until they have taken it under a microscope and decided for themselves. they snicker and laugh but i’m serious.

we must look at problems from all angles and decide what is the truth. we must be objective and thorough. we must find out what the sun really is. the sun is not the sun.

they look at me bewildered. the ideas resonate with some of the students and others vocally disagree. “how can one person come up with an idea that’s valid?” i remark that, in thoreau’s time, slavery was accepted. a minority had to voice their opinion for that that wrong to be righted. they don’t believe me and i’m not sure i believe myself.

the class ends and we get to the last sentence in walden. “the sun is but a morning star.” some of the students instantly understand. our perspective has made the sun out to be something it isn’t. it is nothing but a star. anywhere else in the universe it is a star but, to us, it is the sun. i tell them, “take that and apply it to all parts of life.”