The Ways We Lie By Stephanie Ericcson

Stephanie Coontz is a teacher, historian, author and a scholar activist. She has also very indulged in the world of public debate on families, this mostly due possible because of her extensive skills to study modern families as well as historical patterns. In her book The Way We Never Were, Coontz presents a historical look at the family and how it has changed over time. Her interest in the subject comes for her need to understand how families functioned in the past and present, and what lead to notion and definition of family nowadays.

Should we stop lying and should stop letting people lie to us? In “The Ways We Lie”, Stephanie Ericsson describes lying as “a cultural cancer that… reorders reality until moral garbage becomes as invisible to us as water is to a fish” (Ericsson 186). Ericsson believes that we have accepted lies to the point where do not recognize it anymore. Ericsson has a point when she says that lying should not be tolerated, but it should be the unnecessary lies that should not be tolerated. There are lies that are justifiable based on the intent of the person lying. All lies are harmful in their own ways but sometimes we need to lie to protect others and ourselves.

In this essay, The Ways We Lie, Ericsson writes examples of lies we tell daily. She explains that not all the lies we tell are intentional. We choose to make life easier by lying. This essay also highlights situations that occur in everyday life. Ericson explains that “The white lie assumes that the truth will cause more damage than a simple, harmless untruth.” (89) She then continue to explain that a “white lie” can be dangerous simply because telling the truth could ease a lot of pain.

As she went into depth explaining each form of lying, Ericsson showcased the varying levels of severity in lying, through examples written in the text. At the beginning of the essay, she writes about lying to a friend by saying she was busy and couldn’t meet up, even though she just wasn’t hungry. Further into the essay while writing about ignoring facts, she writes about how a Catholic Church hired Father Porter, knowing his history of abusing children, which led to more children being harmed. It’s hard to imagine that both of these instances are defined as lies, and it clearly shows the complicated layers of lying that keep all lies from being harmless or bad. Ericsson even shows a mild and more extreme version of the same type of lie. When describing a facade, she writes about how she puts up a facade by wearing suits to work, even though she prefers to stay in her pajamas until the afternoon. Right after, she describes

“...ok to lie to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.” The people who believe lying is justified, usually say it’s ok to not tell the truth to cover someone’s feelings or to keep someone from being hurt mentally and/or physically. However in the long run, they may think it’s for the better but are still blatantly lying and could possibly cause even more damage than intended. “Apparently even white lies are acceptable, even necessary.” Everyone tells a white lie here and there, and if they’re lucky it won’t affect anyone, but why should it be risked? Just because we color code a lie doesn’t makes it kind of “ok.” Do we say a white lie is ok, and a yellow lie is bad, and a red lie is unacceptable?o, because a lie is lie in the end, whether is considered a “white lie” or just a lie. A person might tell a white lie, but gets caught so has to cover it with another lie again and again, and in the end turns out not to be considered a white lie anymore. Others who say it’s justified, have a different opinion on lying, but as a question, why should we lie when honesty is an option?Everyday people hear others lie and see how bad the outcome it could be, however still deliberately lie. When a person lies to you they don’t respect you in a way others don’t see, or when a person calls you a liar they insult your integrity. However, in vise versa if the opposite person lies to them they are being egocentric. So in the

Ericsson structures her writing through subheadings, and categorizing each lie with insightful examples. The author first tackles the white lie. She writes, “The white lie assumes that the truth will cause more damage than a simple harmless untruth… it as an act of subtle arrogance for anyone to decide what is best for someone else” (160). I believe white lies can only do as much damage compared to the extent of the lie. I tell my mom I’ve done a chore, which I haven't yet, but if she were to arrive earlier I would be in trouble for lying. The lie was intended to be harmless, but I faced the consequences. If I had told the truth I would not have to face as much anger from my mother. Nevertheless, even the smallest white lies end up with negative outcomes. One’s intentions could also cloud the fact that the white lie might harm the other party. The example of the sergeant’s white lie, where he reports the soldier as missing instead of dead, shows how such a small lie can impact

Stephanie Ericsson is a writer of all sorts who pulls events from her life to use as starting points for her work. She does this to make everything she writes deeply personal. The essay, “The Ways We Lie” was originally published in the Utne Reader. The Utne Reader is a reader’s digest based out of Topeka, Kansas. It presents new and fresh ideas in art, culture, politics, and spirituality. Utne readers are people who are motivated for social change, and they want to make the world a better place. The readers want to be well rounded on current events. That is what the Utne Reader has provided its readers for over thirty years. It is a combination of reprints and original writings. The Utne Reader is published monthly online for its readers to enjoy (citation). Does the Utne Reader give credit to those whose articles they reprint? How large is the fan base for this digest? Does anyone in our school subscribe to the Utne Reader?

In “Brad Blanton: Honestly Tell the Truth” , an article by Barbara Ballinger reports that you should honestly tell the truth rather than lying. Ballinger supports her idea by reporting that Blanton says “Because it keeps you locked up in the jail of your own mind”, which means lying can sometimes trouble you when the guilt hits you. Ballinger also states “Delivering the truth is easier, takes less time, and is less stressful.” This quote means that when you lie or keep the truth from someone then it causes a lot of stress and it just takes less time to tell someone the truth rather than lying. Ballinger wants to report that telling the truth is better and less time consuming than telling a

Within Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, Abigail told lies about who was guilty of witchery. Whereas, Elizabeth Proctor told the lie to the court that her husband did not have an affair. Another difference between lies and white lies is one of intention. Lies are spoken with the purposes of self-benefit and or, in a malicious case, to hurt another person. Abigail told the lies to protect herself and harm those whom she disliked. In contrast, white lies serve to defend someone else and or to ease social pressures. Elizabeth Proctor lied to protect her husband’s reputation.

First of the so called white lies are the lies permitted to everyone, and those even thought to children. We have all heard this in a certain time: “Ohh but it’s just a little white lie, he will never know”. Of course as a lie you are still hiding the truth and sooner or later it will come out, thus there are other negative attributes to a lie and even to those small and innocent as a white lie. White lies according to the author, are lies that we are intended to not damage someone else feelings. So far we

Thesis Statement: Multiple types of betrayal and deception are present in 1984. Throughout the novel, the lies escalate to a point of no return and Winston feels the wrath of each. The White Lie: A small lie that is told to a person to spare their feelings because the truth might cause more damage. Although many people might lie this way to protect someone, it is still a lie and it can cause more damage than the truth.

Lies is the most meaningful word in Natasha Trethewey's poem, "White Lies" because it shows the importance in telling the truth and believing in who you are. In the poem the author explains that when she was a child she easily could lie about that she lived uptown and had pretty dresses and she wasn’t as poor as she was. She also always got caught by her mom and she made her pay for it everytime.

Everyday people tell lies that seem minor and ineffective on life. These lies are considered white lies or kind lies. A white lie is a cautious, wrong statement which is meant to do no harm or is intended to produce an encouraging result. Adair Lara’s Couple lie shows readers white lies in marriage. She states “This is marital lying. It’s not a white lie, meant to spare your feelings. It’s a pink lie, a couple lie.” In her opinion white lies and couple lies are different, couple lies are acceptable. The author and many people see white lies and couple lies as a way to get through life, but are the results always positive? Couple Lies and White lies may seem innocent and harmless but can potentially cause problems in relationships and

“Bones Never Lie” is a fictional novel written by Kathy Reichs. This novel focuses on two main characters - Dr. Temperance Brennan and Detective Andrew Ryan. The two are trying to solve a murder case just been linked to one thousands of miles away. They linked these two to the murder because both of the children had facial tissue under their fingernails, and it matched one another. The two bodies have lots of things in common, other than the facial tissue. For one, they were posed nicely, and had everything perfect when their bodies were found. Near the beginning of the novel, they are able to rule out a man as a killer because of how well taken care of the girls were. As Dr. Brennan gains more evidence, they can link more cases to the

White lies are defined as diplomatic or well-intentioned deception. There are many different types of white lies that are told, such as, lies of flattery for example; if someone gives another person a gift and the gift was not what the person wanted, this person would reply “thank you so much! I just love it!” This type of white lie is told because telling someone