Abigail Carr
Mr. M
English .1
13 October 2015
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Topic: Title Analysis- Does the title relate to the book? Is the title appropriate to the book?
A beautiful and perfect distinguished family with all their riches isn't always what it is set out to be. The family slowly grows apart when Grandma Tipper passes away, and all the imperfections unfold. The "Liars" friendship turns destructive and a serious accident occurs. Lies pile up and then, finally, the truth is revealed. At first, it is not clear what the "Liars" are lying about. For the past 15
…show more content…
summers, small lies emerge which leads to understanding of even bigger lies to come. Finally, it becomes evident that Cadence is living the biggest lie of all. Harris, the grandfather, believes that the destroying fire was an accident. He also thinks that Cadence wasn't there. However, the truth unfolds that she skillfully planned the whole thing. The title is appropriate for the book because of its past tense components relate to the events taking place. The Sinclairs always present themselves as perfect. The family consists of Tipper and Harris Sinclair, who had 3 beautiful daughters named Penny, Carrie, and Bess. The Sinclair daughters were very tall, merry, rich and blessed with beauty. They were all like princesses in a fairy tale. "Welcome to the beautiful Sinclair family. No one is a criminal. No one is an addict. No one is a failure"(Lockhart 3). The 3 daughters also had beautiful children of their own; Cadence, Johnny, and Mirren. They all spent their summers on the private island called Beechwood. The family is not as perfect as they may look. The daughters try to keep their children as perfect as they can, but they seem to live up to the title of being the "Liars." They figure out how to get in trouble on the island with Gat, a family friend. Their summers are packed with having fun and sharing good times with one another. Everything started to go down hill.
"One night, two summers ago, on a warm July evening, Gatwick Matthew Patil, Mirren Sinclair Sheffield, and Jonathan Sinclair Dennis perished in a house fire thought to be caused by a jug of motorboat fuel that overturned in the mud room" (Lockhart 201). In the title "We Were Liars," the second word is in past tense. During Summer15, Cadence had an accident and is now suffering debilitating headaches. She can't remember any details that occurred during that summer. The family has decided not to tell her anything about her accident. After 2 years, Cadence finally remembers one night. The cousins and Gat decided they’d had enough of the adult arguments over possessions. The "Liars" decide to set fire to the main house on the island. Unfortunately, the fire catches quickly and the cousins and Gat are unable to get out. Only Cadence is able to escape because she set the fire on the main floor unlike the rest of her cousins and Gat who were in the basement and the upper …show more content…
floors. The Sinclair's want you to think that they had a perfect family.
The lies began to unfold. "Gat, Mirren, Johnny, and Me. The family calls us the four liars, and probably we deserve it. We are all nearly the same age, and we all have birthdays in the fall. Most years on the island, we've been trouble"(Lockhart 7). The "liars" are tired of pretending to be perfect. As they grow up together, they realize how many lies have been told just to seem normal. They have many good memories shared together on the island but when Grandma Tipper passed away the family started to fight and show all their imperfections. The "Liars" decide to destroy Clairmont as a symbol showing their distress.
The title "We Were Liars" is appropriate for the book. The events that take place throughout, support each word in the title. The cousins and Gat are apart of a rich and "perfect" family. They are all called the "Liars" because they get into a lot of trouble growing up. The title is in past tense because there was a tragic accident that caused all but one "Liar" to die in a house fire. In E. Lockhart's novel, she titles the book appropriately based on the characters actions and events that take
place.
To truly understand the exact context in which deception and betrayal were used in the novel, one must first start with Polly Wilson. Polly was lied to more so than any other person, her naive and uncalculated nature played as an influencing factor which allowed the severity of the situation escalate into a climactic turning point. A culmination of very specific and detailed lies lead to the untimely demise of Polly Wilson at the hands of John. One quote spoken by John Wilson, “Geese” (Page 78, line 18), sets up the story’s climax
Taylor and Lou Ann demonstrate a symbiotic relationship between the roles and characteristics in a family. Edna Poppy and Virgie Mae replaces the missing physical and emotional traits in a stable household. The examples tie into the fact that not all families in this book match “the norms” and expectations, but are equally valued, blood or
To begin, the authors’ style plays a major role in conveying their purpose. One of the first things anyone will notice is the title chapters, which are named by seemingly abstract and unrelated topics. For example, the first chapter is named, “What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?” This question makes the
The grandmother has a crafty mind when it comes to getting her way. She manipulates everyone, mainly her family to get what she wants. She does this because in her time period it is what was req...
Judith Viorst is an American journalist. Her essay “The Truth about Lying”, printed in Buscemi and Smith’s 75 Readings: An Anthology. In this essay, Viorst examines social, protective, peace-keeping and trust-keeping lies but doesn’t include lies of influence.
Unfortunately, however, after years of a happy marriage, Janie accidentally kills her husband during an argument. Her town forces her not only to deal with the grief, but to prove her innocence to a jury. Enduring and overcoming her three husbands and forty years of life experiences, Janie looks within herself to find and use her long hidden, but courageous voice.
Are everyday rituals, such as, facades reflected as to being a lie? Simply preparing for a meeting or interview does not come off as lying, although another type of façade such as when someone asks, “Are you okay,” after a death of someone close to you, in reality it is a form of a lie, because you are not being honest. In Stephanie Erricsson’s article “The Ways We Lie,” she discusses many different types of lying, that most wouldn’t even consider. Ericsson claimed, “But façades can be destructive because they are used to seduce others into an illusion” (409). Depending how a façade is used, the outcome can be beneficial or damaging. There are facades that are used to cover up one’s true feelings, in order to protect an individual and then there is a type in which one puts on a mask to cover up how awful of a person they are. Charity, a former friend, deceived me with the qualities of everything she was not, my mom is a great example of when it comes to hiding when she is saddened. In this article “The Ways We Lie,” Stephanie Ericsson has a great point of view on the destructiveness of facades, although, it can very well be used in a good way just as much as in a bad way, in fact, like my protective mother, using facades for mine and my sisters own good and then a conniving friend using facades in
In “The Ways We Lie,” by Stephanie Ericsson, she defines various types of lying and uses quotations at the beginning of each description as a rhetorical strategy. Throughout the reading she uses similar references or discussion points at the beginning and ending of each paragraph. Most believe lying is wrong, however, I believe lying is acceptable in some situations and not others when Stephanie Ericsson is asked, “how was your day.” In “The Ways We Lie,” she lies to protect her husband’s feelings, therefore, I think people lie because they are afraid of the consequences that come with telling the truth.
In “Great Aunts” the narrator’s family left from Nova Scotia during the Depression because there were no jobs. Although they lived far away from Nova Scotia, they still contacted their family through letters. At the start of the story, we don't know that what will happen to this family in the future. The story is written in the past tense, and spans is from the narrator’s childhood to when she is 28-year-old. The narrator grew up in a huge extended family of invisible people because they didn't see each other, but they
"Nothing but the Truth" is a pun, really, to the theme of the book. In a court of law, the judge will make a witness swear on the bible that they will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Which is not always the case. People tell small lies, exaggerate, and often bend the truth, so to speak, and the end result is something far from the truth. This book is about honesty, or its lack thereof. Specifically, the theme is about how bending the truth can create more problems then just telling the truth would have been.
When initially asked about the morality of lying, it is easy for one to condemn it for being wrong or even corrupt. However, those asked are generally guilty of the crime on a daily basis. Lying is, unfortunately, a normal aspect of everyday life. In the essay “The Ways We Lie,” author Stephanie Ericsson makes note of the most common types of lies along with their consequences. By ordering the categories from least to most severe, she expresses the idea that lies enshroud our daily lives to the extent that we can no longer between fact and fiction. To fully bring this argument into perspective, Ericsson utilizes metaphor, rhetorical questions, and allusion.
After a long journey to America the family arrives in Packingtown, where Jokusbas Szedvilas, a fellow Lithuanian immigrant, introduces them to the filthy stinking part of the city that will now be their home. Jurgis is very eager to get a job and succeeds easily. The family has rented living quarters in the filthy boarding house ran by Anielle Jukniene, but Jurgis and the others want to buy a house. An attractive advertisement brings them to a dishonest house agent. They do buy a house, but are made to sign a deed that they can’t even understand. They find out later it requires them to rent the house for a long time and if they miss even one payment they lose all they have in the ...
“Adversity defines the essence of who we are and who we desire to be!” This can be best realized in the rural southern regions of the United States during the late 19 forties and early fifties. Without a specific location of long-term concentration, this story finds three generations of a family taking a vacation (planning at least) to Florida despite objections from the grandmother. Factor in her impatient son (Bailey), his wife, and two smart-ass children have marginal respect for their grandmother resulting in a crew of authoritative, uncertainty, distant, and manipulative people about to engage on a trip that ends with certain doom for all with a twist indicative of self preservation and ironic irritation.
“I can see my Liars waiting, not on the dock but by the weathered wooden fence that runs along the perimeter path… Welcome home, they are saying. Welcome home.” (Lockhart pg. 65) During this, the Liars are waving their arms and not coming to the dock at all, when Cadence shows up. After everyone speaks to each other when Cadence and her mother come back, they leave her alone at Windemere to unpack and settle in. Cadence then looks for the Liars. “Suddenly they were on me like puppies…Then we were apart again, going to Cuddledown.” (Lockhart pg.68) There are also a few attributes that Cadence points out. For instance, she sees that none of the other Liars, especially Gat, have grown. “Two summers ago, Gat was several inches tall than I. Now we are about even.” (Lockhart pg.69) She also sees they are in the same clothes as she had last seen them. “Gat in a worn green T-shirt from two summers ago…Johnny broad-shouldered in jeans and a pink plaid button-down so old its edges are frayed.” (Lockhart pg.69) The Liars also refuse to go get to New Clairmont with everyone to eat. “’I’m not going to supper at New Clairmont,’ says Mirren decisively. ‘And no breakfast either. Not this year.’… ‘Same,’ says Johnny. ‘Same,’ says Gat.” (Lockhart pg.71) Gat also compares himself to Heathcliff, who is dead. Gat does a lot of reading and also reads the book, Invisible Man.
The art of deception is known to lie in various places: superheroes, lies, appearances, and within one's self. It is very well known by everyone. It holds a common ground for a complex characters, and an unknown yet unnecessary piecework for characters of a simple, static nature. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about a small girl named Scout who finds herself in the midst of racism and deception. The novel as well as reality is sporadic about usage of deception. A certain contradistinction defines the collective population. Therefore, synchronization of people is uncommon. This disarray of people is played in a convincing portrayal of characters in the novel. Harper Lee's characters, who are both fallacious in appearance or have a forthright portrayal, reveal her contemplation of deception.