Finding the Truth

Looking in the mirror, you realize that a year ago from today, you looked into this very mirror and could only see half of your face, still round and babyish. Now, another year later, you can see that your face has thinned, your hair has grown longer and your lips fuller. Your eyes see things that you have never seen before. They see yourself growing older. As the children of the world continue to grow and become farther on in their journey from innocence to experience, the world starts to speak the truth to them, begins to show them what it has to hold, and in turn, each child must discover their own truth and make use of what the world has taught them.

“It was like nothing wrong could happen in a world where things balanced so stilly” spoke the young Francie Nolan of the brass scale set in the tea store which she loved so much. At the time, Francie thought that her world was perfect. In her eyes, Brooklyn was the most beautiful neighborhood to live in with its organ grinders and tambourine dancers and one-man bands. As she grew, she thought she knew why the scales at the tea store did not shine as brightly and the bins were dented and shabby. This young girl, so inexperienced to the world, thought she knew why the world around her was changing so rapidly, but in reality, Francie was the one who was changing. Each child goes through a period of time in which they must encounter themselves becoming older, and one step closer to becoming experienced, to finding their truth.

In the neighborhood of Brooklyn, there are dangers lurking behind each corner and in the darkest shadows of a deserted hallway, or even in one’s greatest comfort. The young and inexperienced people of Brooklyn believed that it was the greatest place to live, for they were unaware of the people who wondered the streets looking for money with raggedy clothes and a face full of dirt or the reason of why they gathered at bread bakeries to wait for a truck to dump stale bread out. As Francie became more aware of the hateful people living in Brooklyn and the terrible financial situation her family is in, she starts to recognize that her world is not the perfect place that it used to be, yet Brooklyn has a magic in it that she cannot explain.

This magic in Brooklyn is made up out of hope and faith, which are ideal to growing up in hardship as Francie does in the poverty of Brooklyn. In the book, Francie is entranced by the small tree growing beneath her fire escape; the tree that can survive without water, light, and even soil. When Francie is first born, she is weak and so very innocent. Katie relates the tree to Francie. “Look at that tree growing up there out of that grating. It gets no sun, and water only when it rains. It’s growing out of sour earth. And it’s strong because its hard struggle to live is making it strong. My children will be strong that way.” Much like the tree, Francie continues to grow without money, education, and in a neighborhood not suited for children. She becomes a strong woman who has learned her share from experiences in life and unraveled her truth.

Finding one’s truth is not something that needs to be accomplished in one day. Every person on this planet must have the strength and courage to set foot into the world on their own one day; it is just a part of life. Finding the strength and determination to set out on your own in the world, letting nothing push you down, plowing through your life with the confidence and will to succeed is knowing that you have found yourself, your truth, and applied every ounce of what you have learned by being taught or teaching yourself or picking up a few simple tricks and facts about anything in the world. That, all your knowledge of life, and death, added together and strengthened with the love and hope and faith in your heart, is finding your truth, which each child needs to have the courage and passion to uncover.