Kurt Vonnegut's Short Story, The Lie

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Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “The Lie”, is about a boy who lied about about his admission to Whitehill, a fancy boarding school. Throughout the story, he has a hard time keeping his secret, which is ultimately revealed. Although shocked at first, his parents soon accept that he shouldn’t got to the school. One lesson the story suggests is that you can’t keep a secret forever. From the very beginning, Eli seems uncomfortable. He knows that his parents will find out what he’s done, but he still goes along, waiting for them to find out themselves. Vonnegut explains “He could not bring himself to say what the reason was. He slumped because he knew he had been denied admission to Whitehill. He had failed the entrance exams. Eli’s parents did not know this, because Eli had found the awful notice in the mail and had torn it up.” This text example shows that Eli is almost ashamed of himself for not getting in. His parents were so proud of the Remenzels, that he felt like a failure, not wanting to tell them. He figures that it would be easier for them to figure it out themselves. …show more content…

Warren comes, he still decides to hide and not face the truth. As soon as Eli sees him, he flees, “It was then that Eli got up abruptly, fled the dining room, fled as much of the nightmare as he could possibly leave behind. He brushed past Doctor Warren rudely, though he knew him well, though Doctor Warren spoke his name.” This shows that even when Eli knows that his secret will be spilled, he still runs away, as if he can’t bear to see his parents be let down. It seems as if Eli thinks he can just run away and forget it all, he might even be regretting the fact that he didn’t tell his parents

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