Student Question
In John Kani's Nothing But the Truth, does Themba's habit of saying what people want to hear make him a good politician?
Quick answer:
Themba Makhaya John Kani's Nothing But the Truth was not a good politician, for by telling people only what they wanted to hear, he failed to exhibit the qualities of honesty, integrity, and compassion. He also failed to behave appropriately in all situations (since he would have often told lies) and to use his intelligence properly.
To answer this question, let's brainstorm some characteristics of a good politician.
We must first mention honesty. A good politician knows and speaks the truth. Second, a good politician possesses integrity, the commitment to act according to the truth and one's values (which remain consistent). Third, a good politician is compassionate. He or she strives to understand the conditions, ideas, and values of constituents. Fourth, a good politician is confident and outgoing, certain that he or she will be able to meet the challenges and behave appropriately in any situation. Fifth, a good politician is intelligent and flexible. He or she has a strong mind and can quickly adapt to what is needed in various circumstances.
So let's see how Themba Makhaya in John Kani's play Nothing But the Truth measures up, especially considering how this character always said what people wanted to hear. We are well aware that what...
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people want to hear and what is true are often two different things. The truth is not easy to take sometimes, so Themba gave people a message they would be more likely to accept, whether it was true or not. So Themba fails in both honesty and integrity.
Some might try to argue that by telling the people what they wanted to hear, Thema was being compassionate, but this isn't true. Real compassion means speaking the truth and then helping people accept and embrace the truth, for it is better to know even difficult truths then to live lies. So Themba failed at compassion, too.
Themba probably was very confident and outgoing. Perhaps he could even meet the challenges he faced. However, saying only what people want to hear rather than the truth is far from behaving appropriately, so Themba failed once again.
Finally, Themba was likely quite intelligent, and his ability to determine what people wanted to hear suggests flexibility. Yet he failed to use his intelligence and flexibility in support of honesty, integrity, and compassion.
Overall, then, we must say that no, Themba Makhaya was not a good politician.
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