Truth and Illusion
The truth of this story is that no one can really turn another personinto a tree, no matter what kind of magical powers they possess, so thestory of Sandy and his everlasting spirit in the wood cannot be true.However, Sandy could have disappeared, and Tenie certainly could havemourned him, and believed his spirit lived in the tree. This is whereillusion and truth separate, and illusion takes over the mind. Tenie feltSandy's spirit lived in the tree, and so when it was cut down, the illusionwas ruined, and Tenie mourned his loss. Illusion took over her mind andher life, and she was certain that she was responsible for the loss ofSandy's spirit, and that it still existed in the lumber from the tree. Herillusions were quite real to her, and were quite real to the people aroundher, and so, they evolved into the "truth" of the folk legend that oldJulius narrated to the couple as they waited to order their lumber.Illusion and truth can blend together to become one if they coexist longenough, and Julius' story shows this. Clearly, the story had been around along time, and just with many stories, it had evolved into the legend that
The story of Sandy and Tenie may not be true, but theway Julius tells it, it lives on in the minds of those who hear it, andthat, in a sense, makes it true, no matter the reality. The truth may be that Tenie and Sandy weresimply separated and sent to different plantations, but the illusion oftheir love lasting through time is much more romantic, and much morepleasing than the truth. The realists of the story,the white couple, of course recognize that the story cannot be true, butthe Blacks of the story just as readily accept that magic can exist, andwho is really right, and who is really wrong' That is the ultimate truthabout truth and illusion, that one man's truth is another's illusion. That none of the Negroes questioned the truth of the story issignificant, because they simply accepted it for what it was, and thatthese magical happenings were indeed possible. Truth and illusion canblend together over time to form a new kind of truth, and this is quiteobvious in many of the legends and folktales that still exist today. Truthand illusion may simply be illusions themselves, and their blending to forma new truth may be the real, significant truth in this story. Theywere constantly shifted from place to place, and torn from their families. In conclusion, this chapter of the book shows that the differencesbetween truth and illusion can be slight, and that one man's truth isanother's illusion. This happens all the time with legends and folklore,they are blown out of proportion or altered as time passes, and so they donot closely resemble the actual truth, but become more of an illusion ofwhat really happened. What is truth, andwhat is illusion' Part of that depends on the story, and part of thatdepends on the listener. It is quite clear that Julius not only acceptsthe story as true, he believes it could be true. Thestory is poignant because it not only illustrates how truth and illusioncan blend into something that lasts throughout time; it also illustrateshow difficult it was for the slaves to survive on the plantations. The illusions of the folktales they shared aftertheir work was done helped them forget about the realities of theirdifficult lives, and gave them something to look forward to - the sharingof stories and wild tales.
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Acceptance Essays
