The ideal of truth is one of the oldest in human history, and it is one considered in many camps to be an unpopular one. Many prefer to cling in these modern times to delusions, lies and to weakness. The reality is though that truth is an all-powerful thing, one which men as Musashi once said must bend towards or be destroyed by. Such is the power and might of truth itself, and the importance it plays in all of our lives.
And what is the truth? Well in Christian beliefs truth comes from God, who says as one point, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” A very powerful and binding quote, one which is quite daunting in its importance and one can even argue its ferocity, given the power of truth itself.
But there is more to the idea of truth than God or a literal translation of it as having some sort of power over our world. There should also be considered on a philosophical level here, the ideal of being an honest man.
His word speaks only truth, means just that, and that he must be honest with no hidden intentions. He cannot lie, so that a Knight must state what is in his heart and soul at all times, less he take onto himself some infection that will spread and poison the whole of his honour. This is what this means at its core; honesty until death.
It has been said that all relationships are predicated on truth, on honesty and that without this they fall apart, well this isn’t just the case with romantic bonds but platonic ones. So that they fall apart when lies come in, along with ‘half-truths’ as these are acts of deliberate subterfuge and deception. If shadows are cast over a man’s word and over his every action, than he soon finds himself lost in nothing but shadows and will find it that much more difficult to find the truth and its inherent light.
If others cannot trust the words of a knight sent to help them, than who can they trust? This question is not asked facetiously, since Dragonheart takes place in the far-flung future from the Arthurian stories, at least 400 years after them to 500, and if most of the stories are canon then it means that the knights acted kind of like the Jedi Knights in Star Wars, so that they depended on the good-will of the people and on stamping out the enemies of the King and of his realm. To accomplish this they would have to speak truth, and uphold their every oath and promises.
There is also that side of truth; promise and oath-keeping. To keep them in the middle-ages was very important, as to break them could ruin a man’s reputation and leave him a rather unpopular figure hated, hunted and regarded with nothing but disdain, as happened with John & Richard. The two of them rarely if ever kept their words so that they were forced to fight all throughout the ‘Angevin Empire’ until it at last was broken up under John’s watch.
He played fast and loose with his oaths, and so nobody took them seriously and came to despise him also for his cruelty, so that he became a hunted man in his own realm of England. You also have Edward I, who was deceitful and never told the truth where the Scots were concerned, breaking his oaths to them so that he began slaughtering them, and so the tighter he attempted to hold them within his grasp the more they sought to slip away.
Oaths, truth and honesty are all noble things but the first ought not to be sworn lightly, as they can rapidly take on a life of their own if we’re being honest. But sometimes a man has little choice, while the latter two should always be spoken. The sad thing is though, that few employers for example like hearing you speak the truth, they like lies and despise hearing the truth, so that in that situation which is it? My heart says the truth, even as my head says the lie, as I’ve yet to meet an employer with any interest in truth (at least none since the first bookstore I worked in as a child).
So that there you see? There is nuance, but always honesty and truth must be spoken, less your word become worthless. Certainly business-owners and corporate types despise the truth, being maggots who thrive on dishonesty but truth is that even if they do not like the truth, you will know in your heart that you have lied that is if you did so at all.
Truth has a strange power of always coming out, and so if you live honestly and in utter truth, it rarely if ever harms you.
This is why Knights in Dragonheart must be honest men, because some such as Lancelot did not speak truth and it destroyed not only him but all of Camelot. This is why one must aspire like Bowen did, to be like Arthur and speak nothing but the truth, and to never hide from it. Others may prefer to never see it, but you must as a knight, and you must then temper yourself and make yourself as the promontory and not bend nor break before the onrushing wave of truth which can be as mighty as mightiest of tsunamis.
Absorb the blow, absorb the truth, seek it out rather than hide from it this is what it means to always speak the truth, along with upholding one’s word to all around you.
Love this. We find the truth only when are searching for it. Also in terms of "business owners," my husband is a non-union (by choice) small business electrician and you will never find a more honest and free man. Almost 40 yrs and still putting in well over 40 hrs a week. Will help anyone anytime.
You write so well!
Yes, Christianity certainly lays broad claim over the truth and morality in general. However, as Ayn Rand said, morality ends where force begins. I have no obligation to be truthful to tyrants or to anyone seeking to harm me.