My Understanding of Truth was Jake Chambers' final essay for Ms. Avery's English class at the Piper School.
Jake wrote it while he was slowly going insane. When he went to turn it in, he realized that he had no memory of actually writing it. It featured the repetitive use of the phrase "... and that is the truth" and detailed characters and events from Roland's world. Jake ditched school after turning in the essay because he thought he had clearly revealed his madness to the world.
After returning home and being confronted by his parents for ditching school, Ms. Shaw returned the essay graded by his teacher. Much to Jake's surprise, he actually got an A+ on it for his "outstanding job of merging stream-of-consciousness with symbolic language."
The Essay[]
MY UNDERSTANDING OF TRUTH
by Jake Chambers
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust."
-T.S. "Butch" Eliot
"My first thought was, he lied in every word."
-Robert "Sundance" Browning
The gunslinger is the truth.
Roland is the truth.
The Prisoner is the truth.
The Lady of Shadows is the truth.
The Prisoner and the Lady are married. That is the truth.
The way station is the truth.
The Speaking Demon is the truth.
We went under the mountains and that is the truth.
There were monsters under the mountain. That is the truth.
One of them had an Amoco gas pump between his legs and was pretending it was his penis. That is the truth.
Roland let me die. That is the truth.
I still love him.
That is the truth.
When is a door not a door? When it's a jar, and that is the truth.
Blaine is the truth.
Blaine is the truth.
What has four wheels and flies? A garbage truck, and that is the truth.
Blaine is the truth.
You have to watch Blaine all the time, Blaine is a pain, and that is the truth.
I'm pretty sure that Blaine is dangerous, and that is the truth.
What is black and white and red all over? A blushing zebra, and that is the truth.
Blaine is the truth.
I want to go back and that is the truth.
I have to go back and that is the truth.
I'll go crazy if I don't go back and that is the truth.
I can't go home again unless I find a stone a rose a door and that is the truth.
Choo-choo, and that is the truth.
Choo-choo. Choo-choo.
Choo-choo. Choo-choo. Choo-choo.
Choo-choo. Choo-choo. Choo-choo. Choo-choo.
I am afraid. That is the truth.
Choo-choo.