The Secret Room

This is a personal paper written and submitted last semester (2nd, AY 10-11) for my Legal Writing class (yes, we still write reaction/reflection papers).

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The Secret Room

            I have been an avid reader as a child. I started with reading children’s stories (mostly Filipino legends and folklore) and now I am reading law books. I can say that my love for reading has matured as I, too, have grown up.  But, I cannot deny that I still love reading children’s stories because they usually contain moral lessons that are presented in a simpler manner than “adult” books.

            I am not sure whether the author of The Secret Room, Mr Uri Shulevitz, intended the book only for children. Yes, the story was written with illustrations but I do not believe that illustrations equal children as the target audience. There are certainly other people who would appreciate illustrations in order to understand a story more if there are drawings accompanying it – myself included. I have learned that I learn more when I see what is being taught to me.

            I learned that about myself in my Psychology 101 class in college. I learned that there are different ways in which people grasp a lesson more or learn a concept more, sometimes, also depending on the topic or subject matter. Certainly, if a father wants to teach his child how to drive a nail through wood, he would show his son how to do it or give his son a manual with pictures on it indicating each step needed to be executed as the father oversees the son’s work. But the father, I believe would not just tell his son “Go. Drive a nail through wood” as mere instruction. Nailing, as a skill, would require demonstration. Teaching the skill, also, is not just the concern of the father. It is important that the skill or the lesson be taught in a careful and precise manner, lest the son or the student misunderstands the lesson.

            When the story of The Secret Room was presented to us, the professor read the story to us and enjoined us to read it with him through the slides shown in front of the class. And after reading the story together, we were asked to make a reaction paper about it and to write that paper in our most persuasive way. Like the father who taught his son the skill of nailing through demonstration, the professor, in our situation, is teaching us the lesson found in the story through seeing, listening and experiencing the lesson. But before I react on what lesson (or rather lessons, for I have found two when I was contemplating on the activity) I have learned from the story, allow me to share the story to show how much I’ve learned through the professor’s manner of teaching.

             The Secret Room tells of an old man who pleased the King through his wisdom. Upon meeting the old man for the first time, the King asked why his hair is white while his beard is still black, the old man replied to the King that it is because his “hair is older than his beard”. The old man displayed his wisdom through his answer for certainly, a man’s hair grows with him since childbirth while his beard only spurts upon reaching puberty. The King then ordered the old man not to share his answer to anyone until the old man has seen the King for a thousand times. When the King reached his palace, he asked a palace official why a man’s hair is white while his beard is black. To this, the palace official had no answer so he sought the old man. The old man agreed to share the answer in exchange for a thousand coins to which the palace official, thinking that he was outwitting the old man, readily agreed. And so, the palace official was then able to answer the King’s question. When the King found out about this, he called for the old man and demanded why he disobeyed the order of the King. The old man, in his wisdom, answered that he obeyed the King – he only divulged the answer after seeing a thousand coins where the King’s face is carved. The King, yet again pleased, made the old man one of his advisers. The old man served the King well and the palace official’s jealousy grew more. To make trouble for the old man, the palace official told the King of the secret room in the old man’s house where, according to the palace official, stolen treasures from the King’s palace were being kept by the old man. The King then went to the old man’s house and demanded to see the secret room. The old man obliged and we see that the secret room, contrary to the palace official’s statement, is actually empty. Finally, the old man shares what could be his greatest piece of wisdom yet: the empty room is to remind him of who he is – a mere man.

            And now, I share the lessons that I have learned from this story: 1) we, law students, when we have finished law school and have finally become lawyers or officials, should remember who we are – mere men. Without the title or the privilege of being a lawyer, we are nothing. So we should not boast of what we have become nor use our profession to exploit our fellow men, and 2) persuasion can also be gentle. The act of persuading someone to believe in one’s own personal belief can be done through means that do not require violence or argument. As I have discovered while writing this paper, I have been persuaded in the belief of Mr. Shulevitz and even of the professor that officials should not boast of their office. How? By seeing, hearing and reading along the story of The Secret Room.