“The Lie”
Do you know what it means to lie? Well a boy named Eli lied to his parents in the short story, “The Lie” by, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. He lied to his parents when he received a letter from a school that he wants to go to. That letter said that he couldn’t go to White Hill which made him scared and so he did not show the letter to his parents. This means that you can’t keep a secret for very long before you have to admit it.
To begin with, Vonnegut wrote this story to teach us what it means to lie and that parents need to listen to their children and not make their dream their child’s dream. Eli’s parents wanted him to go to White Hill and he didn’t really get to choose where he wanted to go. He was really mad when he found out that he couldn’t go to the school where his dad went, but his parents were really mad that Eli had bad grades which made him not able to go to the school where they went too.
Speaking of school, this is one of the first places that the mode starts. But it starts with it being a normal everyday life is when they are trying to get into a school. The first conflict starts when Eli finds out that he might not be able to go to the school because of his grades. Then after he receives a letter that says that he can’t go to the school he tries to keep it a secret, that’s when the conflict is fully realized by Eli. While Eli was trying to keep it a secret, his parents were with the chairman of the board arguing with him so that they can get him into the school. After his parents found out what he was hiding they were really mad at him. After that his dad wouldn’t want to go back to that school because he was angry that his kid didn’t make it.
The letter is one of the many symbols in the story, it represents the lie and the wealthy because it means that you got into the school. Speaking of the school it represents the wealthy since you have to have some money to get into it and the good grades. The chairman is representing the troubles in life. These are just some of the symbols.
What would your reaction be if your parents found out you lied? On the other hand, lying can be a helpful thing when you’re trying to keep a secret.
