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Essay / Perceptions and Realities in “A Fable” by Mark Twain
Often, people tend to analyze situations and make judgments based on how they perceive them. It's not primarily about reality and feelings take center stage. In Mark Twain's A Fable, it is evident that there are many obstacles to existing realities, and it is possible to interpret a thing in different ways depending on the blockages that exist between the self and the mirror of imaginations. More so, the truth about a particular issue can change significantly from person to person because the understanding, interpretation, and perception are entirely different. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In A Fable, Mark Twain illustrates how a single concept has different meanings depending on the situations and characters involved. In detail, the author describes an artist who painted a beautiful picture and placed it next to a mirror to view it through reflection. In a way, this was meant to double the distance and make it more beautiful (Twain 1). In the case of an animal farm, the animals heard about the story through the domestic cat and developed an interest in learning more about the painting. Indeed, the concepts of beauty and attractiveness were interpreted differently in animals, and the need to verify the case became a necessity rather than an option. According to the cat, the painting was magnificent. As an intelligent animal, the cat could stand away from the mirror and see the art and its fascination. Even in the description, the cat was very picky about what he was experiencing. “It is a flat thing, wonderfully flat, wonderfully flat and elegant (Twain 3).” Plus, it was beautiful as the cat described it to other animals. However, the situation changed when other animals intervened. They first wanted to know what made the painting beautiful and others, like the cow, couldn't even understand what the mirror implied. It was therefore necessary for the animals to discover this experience through careful observation. In fact, the donkey had developed doubts about the cat's description of the scenario, that the mirror was "a hole in the wall" where an animal could look into it and see the image (Twain 6-7). Suspicions grew to the point that the donkey concluded that the cat was lying. Accordingly, the best way was for the animals to visit the premises and check the case themselves. Unfortunately, no animal described the painting as the cat. In fact, no animal saw the photo. As Mark Twain said, the animals stood between the image and the mirror, meaning that what they saw were their images. The donkey saw himself and the elephant saw his image. Likewise, the camel, the tiger and the leopard saw only their image. But who was wrong? It all depends on what each animal sees, which was the truth in its individual abilities. In fact, even if there was an element of lying in the subject due to the way the cat told the initial story, it is justified to infer that neither animal was wrong. From this story, several moral questions arise. First, judgments are often personal. It is possible to judge an entire situation based on the outcome of one false observation. Second, it is essential to make comparisons in search of evidence. It's a shame that the animals weren't interested in how the cat arrived at his answer. Indeed, if they had probed, it is possible that they would have discovered their flawed reasoning. Third, it is possible that people block themselves from reality. The positioning of the animals prevented