Stephanie Ericsson The Way We Lie Analysis

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.

In the essay "The Way We Lie," Stephanie Ericsson explains a few of the many reasons why we lie, "We avoid confrontation, we spare people's feelings, we conveniently forget, we keep secrets" (1992, p. 159). We want to avoid a big argument or fight that might make matters worse. We lie to protect another from the truth because it might be unbearable. A lie can come out of our mouth without much thought. We hold the

The effect of the lies we tell can lead to a confrontation. We try desperately to avoid this, however, when the lies keep building up, and no one is communicating sooner or later someone is going to confront the matter. The argument might be ten times worse now than if someone had tried to fix it at the beginning. Second, we spare people's feelings. For example, Ericsson used a story about a man who died in Vietnam but the sergeant told his family he was missing. However, it gave false hope to the household what one day he might come home. Furthermore, each lie is different some are bigger than others, but even the smallest of lies can do the most damage. Ericsson (1992) says, "The white lie assumes that the truth will cause more damage than a simple, harmless untruth" (p. 160). Telling a white lie is unnecessary and can lead to arrogance. A person didn't have to inform the lie in the first place but only does it to make themselves feel better. The third effect is relationship and friendships of a lie will be tested. Because the person lied to them, there is no longer trust in the