Activity: The 6 Blind Men & the Elephant

Answer the following questions after watching the video and reading the poem below.
1. Did any of the blind men give the correct answer? Why or why not?
— There's no one's got the correct answer because they didn't touch everything that would help
them identify the elephant. The first blind man said that the elephant looks like a wall, the
second blind man said it looks like a spear, and others said it looks like a snake, a big three, a
fan and a rope which are all far from what the elephant really looked like.

2. In the context of the elephant story, what do you think is a holistic perspective? What is a
partial point of view?
— In the story, I think the holistic perspective there is when the little girl said to those blind men
that they didn't feel the whole part of the animal because they just felt and touched a part of it.
The partial point of view is when the six blind men tried to identify what the elephant really
looked like but all of them didn't get the correct answer because they didn’t touch every corner
of the elephant.

3. What is the importance of a holistic point of view as pointed out in the poem Six Blind Men
and the Elephant by the poet John Godfrey Saxe?
— The importance of holistic point of view is to always look for a bigger picture, look at all
aspects of the given problem or situation to avoid misleading.

4. In the last stanza, John Godfrey Saxe related the legend to the religious wars during his
time. What do you think is Saxe trying to say in this poem?
— In my own understanding, He wants to point out that things should be studied as a whole
and not just a sum of their parts. Be an open minded person and don't be a foolish one who
loves to argue.

THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT

A HINDOO FABLE
I.
IT was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
II.
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me!—but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"
III.

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 The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried: "Ho!—what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 't is mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"
IV.
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"
V.
The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he;
"'T is clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"
VI.
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"
VII.
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"
VIII.
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
MORAL.
So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,

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 Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

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