Selective Amnesia In We Were Liars

I.M.’s character is a large factor compromising his reliability as a narrator; he gets swept away by his emotions or is too naive to understand his own situation. He

I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!” Blanches magic is seen through her illusions and delusions. In Blanches world Mitch doesn’t fit however she has reached a point of intimacy by being honest about her first husband and the guilt she endures as she begins to share the painful moment of her life with him. Stanley’s intrusion ruins her plans of marriage with Mitch and yet again she had to retreat in the world of her delusions. Stanley who represents realism in this novel and play pops Blanche’s illusion bubble through seeing the realism in scene ten he says: “not once did you pull any wool over this boy’s eyes!” Not only Stanley had broken her world of illusion, but also Mitch who is influenced by Stanley and destroys the protection of darkness by exposing her to the bright light.

Many literary criticisms have been written about Blanche and how she tends to lie about everything in her life. “Blanche disguises her desperation with lies- about drinking, her age, her reasons for coming to New Orleans, her sexual experience.” (Dace n.p.). Dace clearly describes Blanche as a liar and describes the fact how she lied about everything from the smallest thing, like her age to something as big as the reason why she went to New Orleans. “... in spite of the fact she’s somewhat older than I. Just slightly.

Additionally, when Charlotte is distressed over Ms. Hancock's death, her mother gets irritated and blames her for “disturbing the even tenor of [their] home”(80). How could Charlotte ever learn to appreciate herself if her mother either criticizes or ignores her? For this reason, Charlotte never argues with her mother, because she knows she

She really did not have a great relationship with her family and it begs the question, why is she not being buried at home with her immediate family? Us as the readers also never hear Addie say where she wants to be buried, it Anse who tells us this. I am sure

She refused that her father died and became mad. She isolated herself from the rest of the town causing them to wonder if she’ll ever leave home again. Like the story “A Worn Path” Phoenix too had her own issues which people have seen as mad. She believes that her grandson is still alive. Although the difference between the two would be the type of character they are.

During these years of promiscuity, Blanche has never been able to find anyone to fill the emptiness. Thus Blanche's imagined failure to her young husband and her constant encounter with the ugliness of death forced the delicate young girl to seek distraction by and forgetfulness through intimacies with strangers and through alcohol which could make the tune in her head

[She] and each parent had been separate individuals before Lily came. Now all four melted together like gumdrops left on a windowsill” (5). At first one would think that Lily is the sufferer for her sister dislikes her and there is nothing she can do about it, but when one rereads the story again and again, Sophie is depicted as the victim. Sophie is unable to express her true feelings about her sister to her parents making them unable to help her. Sophie is kept in silence by her parent’s image of her, so she can't really express any of her thoughts that differ from theirs.

Lastly Ruth tries really hard to be independent and doesn't accept the help she needs from others because just like orchids need water Ruth ends up needing the help she had denied. Also, Tan shows ‘silence’ as a symbol in The Bonesetter's Daughter because after Precious Auntie's incident she is unable to speak and leads a life in silence. Also for a week each year Ruth loses her voice for an unknown reason. Finally, when Ruth breaks her arm on the playground she is given the love and affection she wants from her mother. Ruth is afraid that if she starts talking she will lose the care she wants.

Differences between people have been around since the begin of mankind, they have started great disasters such as every war ever started, deaths, and sometimes disappears. In the nonfiction passage Confetti Girl, by Diana Lopez, and the nonfiction text from Tortilla Sun, by Jennifer Cervantes, both the narrator's point of views differ from those of their parents, therefore creating conflict between each other. In Confetti Girl, the narrator is the little girl that feels her father is ignoring her because he cares too much about literature. In Tortilla Sun the other little girl feels her mother cares only about getting her degree and is not concerned about the needs of the girl. In Diana’s story the tension is created when the girl is not treated the way she was used to, and when her father is not listening to her conversation, in Jennifer’s story tension rises when things don't go the right way, and when bad news is given.