Tamondong 1

J. I. D. J. Tamondong

Professor Ronald Hennessy Esguerra

Literature 1

8 February 2020

What realities about the self did the Skin Horse's advise point at?

In the short story titled “The Velveteen Rabbit”, there was someone regarded as old and

wise, as one of the “experienced” toys who have been there the longest. It was the Skin Horse.

Being the oldest and probably the wisest too at that nursery, he gave advice to the velveteen

rabbit, the story’s protagonist. We could relate to this story as we can view ourselves as the

velveteen rabbit - as someone who yearns to be real.

We all have different “goals” in life but probably one of the most, if not the most,

significant goal in our life’s journey is to be real. As implied in the short story, being real is not

just a superficial realness. It is deeper than that. To be real is to know and to feel - to dig deep. In

order to become real, one must love and be loved. Who we really are is revealed as we receive

love from others. “It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a

long time”. No one could be real overnight, it’s a process -- a long one. One may also experience

pain in the process for there is nothing worthy that requires no suffering. “Generally, by the time

you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in

the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you

can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand”. Our realness may not be appealing to

others that is why we’re afraid to show it. We aspire to have this good image in the eyes of

everyone, hiding our true self under a veil in fear of being judged or unloved. However, in order
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to be loved, we should be exposed; showing our scars, flaws, and imperfections, for true love

surpasses all physical expectations.

Love shapes us to be real and being real is what makes us human. Being real meant

seeing ourselves naked with nothing to hide. We become who we really are around people who

genuinely love us no matter how broken and undesirable we are, for they see right through us -

the real us. It is at that moment that we are capable of truly loving and deserving to be loved - a

real kind of love.