Joseph Keane Reader's Response

Joseph Keane

000781965

Fall 2015

10/5/2015

            Gandhi experienced many trials and tribulations throughout his life that caused him to grow and develop into the person he was. His personal experience lead him onto a search for truth. In the Gandhi’s autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth Gandhi writes about his experiments with truth in the spiritual field, which leads him to personal growth.

            At first, Gandhi was uncertain if he even wanted to write an autobiography. It was uncommon for people who were raised in eastern cultures to write an autobiography. Gandhi gave that idea thought, but overall he wanted to write about his experiments with truth. He wrote in the introduction that even though the text may take the shape of an autobiography, he wanted to share his experiments with truth to the world. He felt it was important to stay true to his principles of nonviolence in order to conduct these experiments accurately. This is evident in part two section eight of the text On the Way to Pretoria. While he was in South Africa, he was supposed to take a train from Durban to Charlestown. While on the train, a train official told him that him that he had to move into the van compartment due to the fact that he was a “colored man”. Instead of leaving and moving into the van compartment, he refused to move because he had a first class ticket. They called the police and threw him out of the train. He did not give into the officials and stayed true to his belief. This sort of spiritual fortitude is evident when he says “The hardship to which I was subjected was superficial – only a symptom of the deep disease of colour prejudice. I should try, if possible, to root out the disease and suffer hardships in the process. Redress for wrongs I should seek only to the extent that would be necessary for the removal of colour prejudice.” (Gandhi, Part Two Section Eight). Gandhi felt it was important for him to stay steadfast in his beliefs in order to grow as a person and try and find truth.

            At first, it was difficult for Gandhi to give speeches due to his shyness. When he invited his friends to the Holborn Restaurant in England he was unable to give the speech and only said “I thank you gentleman, for having kindly responded to my invitation.”(Gandhi, Part one Chapter 18). As life went on he grew to realize in South Africa that his shyness may actually be a positive instead of a negative. Instead of having huge bombastic speeches he would talk straight to the point and said would he only needed to say. By not speaking a lot he measures every word and makes every sentence count. He says “My shyness has been in reality my shield and buckler. It has allowed me to grow. It has helped me in my discernment of truth.”(Gandhi, Part one Chapter 18). This growth and development helped Gandhi during his experiments for truth.

            Gandhi experienced personal growth throughout his entire life. His life experience helped him grow and develop on his search for truth. In this search for truth Gandhi had many unique and interesting life experiences that helped him develop into that man he was. 

Work Cited

Gandhi, Mohandas K. The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Ed. Mahadev Desai. N.p.: n.p., 1940. Print.