Facing The Truth In 'The Novice'

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Facing the Truth is a hard thing for anyone to do, when you’ve gone for so long ignoring what is actually happening around you and living in an idealist worldview it can be hard to escape it. The first mate struggled with accepting what was actually true after the crash with the ship, however he was able to begin to face it after there was no other choice. In “The Novice” the reader should learn that the significance of idealism in an individual’s life is that one cannot hide behind their ideals forever because at one point they have to face the truth. This results in a change of perspective and outlook on life. In the novice the first mate hides behind his belief that the ship the Sally Anne would last forever and that he could stay attached to it. At the beginning of the story the mate had believed so forcefully and overwhelmingly that the boat could never be destroyed. He had believed that the boats “intricacy would protect it” He thought that because of how complex of a project that it had been and how majestic the boat had been would …show more content…

This results in a change of perspective and outlook on life. The first mate had believed in the ship Sally Anne so much that he did not think that anything could happen to it. He believed that the ship was stronger and studier than it was. After the accident the mate is forced to begin to see the truth about the ship and his life. He finally began to see that the thing he dedicated his whole life to was not as great as he thought. By the end of the story his outlook on life changes and he starts to think about what is next and working on the next step in surviving. The truth is something that people hide from and try as hard as they can not to face, however there are something’s that you cannot ignore as much as you try and one

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