White Lies Natasha Trethewey Summary

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The most meaningful word in the poem, White Lies by Natasha Trethewey is “lies” due to its role in conveying the theme of the passage and developing character. In this poem, a girl gives some detail of her life as a light-skinned coloured person. She described why she lies about where she lives, where her homemade dresses come from, and does not bother to correct people when they assume she is white. However, she explains that her mother punished her by giving her soap when she finds out about her daughter’s lies about her race. The word “lies” as used by author, Natasha Trethewey, in the poem, White Lies, helps develop character by giving an attribute of the narrator that developed from where and how she lives. This is reflected

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