Judith Viorst The Truth About Lying Analysis

Stephanie Ercission in The Way We Lie (1993) asserts that we all lie, occasionally, to avoid problems and disagreements, to keep secrets, and trying to protect/help others. The thing is though that we often see ourselves as honest, and we don’t realize that we are hurting people and things in return. Ercission supports this assertion by inserting quotes and explaining all the different type of lies people make and the negative consequence of each. The different types of lies include: the white lie, facades, ignoring the plain facts, omission, stereotypes, groupthink, etc. There are many words trying to get to the point of lies being wrong such as; ignorance, destructive, ignoring, victim, or difference. The overall purpose of this article is

Quote 1: “The public defender, trying to get him off, called him a dumb animal,” I told her. “He said it would be like tying a hog down in that chair and executing him-an animal that didn’t know what any of it was all about. The jury, twelve white men good and true still sentenced him to death.” (26)

There are many times when lying is the best option, the act is reasonable as long as it’s justified.

Throughout life, we sometimes don't take the time to think about what comes out of our mouth. We feel the need to tell a falsehood to make ourselves look better or feel better. After all, we don't want to accept the harsh truth of reality that is lives are not perfect. Sometimes we even forget why we're even lying at all. However, we are not alone as human begins it's in our nature to lie.

One of the greatest commandments written in history is “Thou Shalt not lie.” From a young age we have been taught of the negative effects of lying. We are taught, as toddlers, not to cheat on tests and punished for our dishonesty when caught. But as we grow older we discover that lying is not as terrible as we were raised to believe. Sometimes lying is safer than the truth. Lying helps us to protect the well-being of family and friends. Deception and secrecy are two major themes of Lois Lowry’s The Giver. While being dishonest is against the rules in The Giver, the survival of the community is dependent on deception and secrecy. Lying is written into the daily lives of the people of the community, and used so commonly that people are not aware

Lying is the most committed sin. Everyday people lie whether small or big. Every human knows that lying should not be exercised, but sometimes, in certain situations, lying is necessary due to the consequences of telling the truth.

Stephanie Ericsson begins her explorative essay, “The Ways We Lie,” with a personal anecdote of all the lies she fabricated in one day. She told her bank that a deposit was in the mail when it was not, told a client that the traffic had been bad when she was late for other reasons, told her partner that her day was fine when it was really exhausting, and told her friend she was too busy for lunch when she just was not hungry, all in the course of a day. She shifts from talking about herself to talking about everyone, claiming that all people lie, exaggerate, minimize, keep secrets, and tell other lies. But, like herself, most still consider themselves honest people. She describes a week in which she tried to never tell a lie; it was debilitating, she claims. Furthermore, telling the truth all the time has serious consequences. She postulates that lying, though a form of hedging, must have some merit. She cites a broad definition of a lie from Webster’s dictionary, and asserts that this definition includes many types of lying.

In Tobias Wolff’s short story “The Liar,” the protagonist, James, lies to help him construct a new identity outside of his family. James tells morbid lies about his mother in order to distance himself from her. Since, the loss of his father, James no longer associates with people who are like him. The lies started after his father’s death and his mother starts noticing how much differently he was acting. Since his mother is treating him like she is disappointed in him, James begins to devolve into a state of repressed bitterness. These lies are his way of expressing himself in a new reality to match his wishes. One example of this is when James says, “Felt like a failure. My lying had that effect on her. She took it personally… She thought

In Ericsson’s essay she wrote about why lying threatens to become a “cultural cancer”. To explain why we lie, she tells us about different types of lies, and how they can still be harmful despite having good intentions. Ericsson is correct that lying threatens to become a “cultural cancer”. Lying threatens to become a “cultural cancer” because it can lead people going to a wrong direction. It can turn statements into excuses that can help people manipulate others. Also, it can make a person win over another person.

In the Ted Talk “How to Spot a Liar” By Pamela Meyer, She spoke about the tells of a liar and why people lie. Meyers had two truths, Truth #1 lying is a cooperative act. The lie has no power until the receiver believes the lie. Everyone who has been lied to has agreed to be lied too, for example when a lady asks her husband if she looks fat in a certain clothing item. Both he and she know that there is only one good answer to that question, the women just gave the man permission to lie to her. Meyer said “lying is an attempt to connect are wishes and our fantasies on who we are with we were and how we wish we could be with what we're really like” meaning, we lie to pretend to be someone we aren't. Then Meyer answered the question of when do we lie? A person can be lied to

People like the lady that Mark Twain was talking about in his essay “On the Decay of the Art of Lying” argued that she doesn’t tell a lie in any circumstance, but Mark Twain confronted her by telling her that she is wrong, “we are all liars. There are no exceptions,” he said. He

For example, in article, “It’s the truth: Americans Conflicted about lying”, by NBCnews.com, states that, “For, Harold Smith, it was worth a risk when he lied to his adult daughter about his health when undergoing treatment for a kidney tumor…”. I believe that he was right by lying to his adult daughter, he used lying to protect his daughter, he didn't want to hurt her. In this situation lying would be acceptable, he used it in the correct way, to protect himself and others. Additionally, in article, “It’s the truth: Americans conflicted about lying”, by NBCnews.com, states that, “why get her all traumatized? Says Smith, 64 of Pioneer, Calif. I tried to protect her. It slowed down the anxiety, later he told her what really

Stephanie Ericsson, the author of the essay “The Ways We Lie,” is a screenwriter, advertising copywriter, and author. The essay was originally published in 1982 in the Utne Reader, which is a magazine that focuses on political, social, cultural, and environmental issues. It was reprinted in 50 Essays, which is a compilation of various essays. The textbook was published by Bedford-St. Martin’s, the same publishing company that produced The Language of Composition. The publishing company focuses primarily on humanities textbooks, which means that they are able to choose reliable and scholarly sources. The essay targets the general public, since Ericsson aims to make the average person aware of the role that lying plays in daily life. To accomplish

Do children deserve to be told the truth by their parents? Is it advisable to tell lies to children about situations that they do not completely understand? These questions have been contentious for a long time. Parents find it hard to weigh in how much truth they should reveal and how much information to conceal from their children. Some parents may hide crucial information such as divorce, disease, and other information as they see it as a means of protecting their children. Some parents may lie to their children because they look up to them, and they see it as disappointing their children if they know the truth (Bronson, 2008). With lying, they are not exposed to losing the trust of their children, and they see this as an easy route since

Is lying something we do unintentional? Is it something morally wrong or is it something we just face to do for good causes? The Truth about Lying by Judith Viorst consists of four categories in which according to Viorst our lies fall into. In the article she has social lies, peace-keeping lies, protective lies, and trust keeping lies. Viorst cannot decide about the topic of lying whether it is for a good cause or a bad one so she then gave her opionion throughout the categories. They are all different types of lies that happen in our everyday life and Judith Viorst believes they all come from different approach depending on the situation. I believe that all four types of lies have a limit line. Although it may be wrong to lie they're some