Essays

What Color Is An Apple?

Learning is a kind of exercise that people experience especially when they are young. Through learning, one gains knowledge and skills and thinks by using his/her head. This is one of the main purposes of going to school. Teaching is to help one attain such knowledge and skills. Also, to teach means to educate one to become able to think and use the knowledge and skills they have achieved for the society’s benefit.

In the book, Apples Are Not Red, the arts teacher Ota takes the students outside and makes them draw grasses. By looking closely, the children find out that each standing grass is not the same. Ota says to the class that “just as each grass is different from each other, people are different too.”

On another day, Ota asks the students in the classroom, “What color is an apple?” The children proudly answer, “Red!” Ota asks, “What about lemon?” and the children answer, “Yellow!” Then Ota looks into the children’s eyes closely and asks “Really?” At this point, the children realize with shock that apples are not just red. They have colors in them other than red, such as green or yellow. This can be seen only by removing the bias that apples are red.

What can be learned from the children’s first experience is that everybody is different, so they cannot be judged by one criterion. There must be multiple criteria to judge a person’s skill. For example, if one was not good studying but good at basketball, he/she should at least be admitted for being able to do basketball. If one couldn’t do well at school but was creative in writing stories, he/she should be certified for being able to write stories. Studying is not the only important thing in the world.

As for my own experience, when I was in elementary school, my body was not so strong, so I caught colds very easily and once even had pneumonia. However, in middle school, I joined the karate club, and my physical strength grew dramatically. I received good grades during middle and high school and was admitted to the Medical Faculty. That was when something terrible happened. I received great shock at the end of high school and lost my physical and mental strength. Therefore, I have experienced both healthy times and sick times in my life.

After I got sick, I realized many things. I realized how it felt to fail a year at school. I realized the sadness and pain of sickness. Most importantly, I finally understood how it felt to be handicapped, retarded and different from others. I think that in spite of all the negative effects that my illness has had on me, my illness must be a part of my blessing. I got to realize so many things.

As Kazuo Murakami says in his book, The Code of Life 2, even if the GDP may drop, there should be more latitude in the world and people should be happier and freed from stress. I totally agree with this perspective.

Education must be improved for children with handicaps, retardations, illnesses and any other impediments. We need to place more value on the “one for all and all for one” spirit and not ignore the children who are not as high in aptitude as others.

To accomplish this, we must be keen in finding the good parts of children. Education with latitude and kindness is necessary for the children to grow and expand their talents.

From the children’s second experience, it can be inferred that helping the children see the true nature of various problems is important.. As the true color of an apple is not red, the true nature of various problems in the world can be difficult to be seen or recognized at first.

For example, poverty is made from the vicious cycle of poverty in which the environment gets damaged and the city and the farms both face decadence. This makes the people poorer and further damage may be made on the environment. To ameliorate this problem, the impoverished areas must achieve sustainable growth through help from other countries and from their own efforts.

Another example is the issue of the environment. Although it is difficult to stop the global warming, which is a worldwide problem, it is certainly important to recycle and save resources. When it comes to environmental problems, the saying, “think globally, act locally” can be quite helpful.

Also, education can be improved by eradicating bullying. This way, children would be able to feel more relieved in going to school. The cooperation between the students and the teachers is necessary for the eradication of bullying.

Children must find out these various natures of problems through research. They must keep their antennas standing and acquire the ability to fix those problems.

Moreover, children as well as young people need dreams and hobbies. Something one can like or enjoy can become one’s goal of life. For example, Kazuo Murakami wrote in his book The Code of Life 2 that his experience of going to the United States for research had good effects on him and made him a positive person. As for me, I am still in search of something that I may like. However, I am positive that if I could find passion in something that I like, my illness would get better.

In conclusion, first of all, people need to use many methods to measure children’s abilities. They must not ignore children with disabilities. Secondly, people must help children see the true nature of problems so they can find solutions on their own. Thirdly, one should find a hobby or dream that he/she could enjoy. One thing for certain is that one should never give up. Let us all try to do our best to live in peace, love and gratitude.

Works Cited

1. Apples Are Not Red. Mime Yamamoto. Shincho Company. 2005.

2. Code of Life 2. Kazuo Murakami. Sanmark Publication. 2006.

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