The Story of My Experiments with Truth · Chapter
The Canker of Untruth explained
Gandhi reflects on the common practice among Indian students in England of hiding their marriages to fit in with English social norms.
What happens
Gandhi reflects on the common practice among Indian students in England of hiding their marriages to fit in with English social norms. He confesses his own initial dishonesty about being married and the discomfort it caused him. Through a friendship with an elderly widow who tried to match him with a young lady, he eventually mustered the courage to write a letter confessing the truth, which was met with understanding and laughter, freeing him from the burden of untruth.
Themes in this chapter
Truth and Self-Experimentation
Gandhi's struggle with and eventual confession of his marital status illustrates his commitment to truth, a key theme in his moral development.
Characters to notice
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Narrates his experience as a student in England, his initial dissembling about being married, and his eventual confession to an elderly widow.
- Kasturbai Gandhi
Referenced as Gandhi's wife, whom he hid being married to while in England.
Key passages
“I too caught the contagion. I did not hesitate to pass myself off as a bachelor though I was married and the father of a son.”
Gandhi admits that he also fell into the habit of pretending to be unmarried, even though he was a husband and father.
Highlights Gandhi's initial complicity in the untruth he later condemns.
“I thus purged myself of the canker of untruth, and I never thenceforward hesitated to talk of my married state wherever necessary.”
After confessing the truth, Gandhi felt cleansed of dishonesty and never again shied away from acknowledging his marriage.
Marks a turning point in Gandhi's personal commitment to truthfulness.