Angles of Vision

The truth in each of these stories/poems reflects truth not only in how it exists in our world. But how it connects to each truth that we as human beings have. The book "I know the Moon" shows how truth is all dependent on one universal truth. It is undeniable that the moon exists yet each of the animals has a different idea of what the moon is. All of their different truths came from the one universal truth of the moon. When they went to the scientist he described the moon to them in words and this irritated the animals further who still had a different idea of what the moon was. By the end of the story however they all look at the moon slightly more together and their different truths combine into the one big truth that is the moon. "The Wolves in the Walls" shows truth based of one's perception of reality. Lucy hears the wolves and yet the rest of the family refuses to believe it because of its lack of sensibility. There cannot be wolves because there's no such thing as a wolf living in walls. However that reality quickly changes as the wolves to come out of the walls and vindicate the young girl. This relates to "I Know the Moon" because each of the characters has their own truth that spans of one universal truth. Whether it be the moon or wolves in the walls. "How to Tell a War Story" takes on a totally different idea of truth in that it can take on many different guises. He sees the truth that really "happens" and the truth that seems to happen. He describes a soldier getting gunned down in a hail of fire and killed and then says that it appears like he was killed by the sun. This shows how truth can take on a guise and isn't necessarily definitive on reality (similar to "The Wolves in the Walls". Dickinson describes truth as a deity almost and defines it as an incredible power. She uses the comparison that because truth will never die it must be a god in a sense because supposedly god will never die. She even goes on to show how truth is the only thing as old as god and hence must be a god on it's own.

Personally I find myself most drawn to Obrien's description of truth. I do not believe that truth isn't just necessarily the opposite of an untruth. Truth takes on many guises that span far beyond reality. Similar to "I know the Moon" I get irked when truth is defined in a clear, definitive, "thing", or worse described in basic words and nothing more. Truth covers much more than just words and we cannot begin to touch on what truth truly is. But one truth can be the same as a million "untruths" and vise versa. Everything depends on perception and a certain ability to define the world around you beyond what is "real."