In the article “The ways we lie,” Stephanie Ericsson, a screenwriter, and advertising copywriter, explicitly narrates different ways people lie. She not only lists eight common reasons behind lying but also narrates the roles that lying plays in society. The author connects the audience’s ethos, pathos, and logos by narrating her experiences with lies. In this article, the author states that people have different motives for lying. Some of the motives, as she states, are positive such as not hurting the feelings of the person lied to and not hurting oneself by any measure. Ericsson links this well with an example of her lying to her husband that her day was great to avoid putting him into more grief. Apart from her own experience, the author also analyzes different scenarios in which different people lie and the type of lies they deliver. The thesis of Ericsson’s essay is to discuss how people lie or are lied to and the effects of the lies. There are eight different kinds of lies people tell and portray different motives behind them, as enumerated in Stephanie Ericsson’s article “The ways we lie.”
The first kind of lie discussed in the article “The ways we lie” is the white lie. A white lie assumes that the truth will cause more damage than harmless truth (Ericsson 121). This kind of lie is pervasive, and the person who tells it rarely feels guilty. Indeed, the author suggests that it is better to tell a white lie than hurt a person’s feelings. Ericsson supports this argument with a quote from Bergen Evans “A man who won’t lie to a woman has very little consideration for her feelings” (121). The author states that someone who tells this type of lie must decide what is best for the audience. She uses an example of a sergeant who lied to the family of a killed soldier that he was missing. This, as Ericsson states, was unfair to the family as it gave them false hopes that their loved one would return. A white lie may be the most common, but façades may make this a fair debate.
A façade is a form of deception disguised by appearance and seduces the target into a false illusion. A typical example of a well-known façade is the appearance of deception done during Julius Caesar’s assassination, which made him say, “Et tu, Brute.” this is the second form of deception addressed by the author, and she says all people use it in one way or another. Ericsson describes façades using an example of how a person uses dressing, such as putting on suits to deceive others. She also describes an example where she was lied to by a friend who had good looks and promised that a big break was on the horizon for him. After a plethora of lies, the author realized the friend was all talk but no walk. Another way in which people lie is by ignoring plain facts. Although this form of lying is not as apparent as other discussed methods, it is a false action and thus qualifies to be labeled as a lie. Ignoring plain facts as a means of lying is closely related to deflecting. A true story of how the Catholic Church ignored the plain facts of a manipulative priest is used to make this point stick.
Good liars, according to Ericsson, know how to deflect lies from what they want to avoid. Ericsson narrates how she manages to conceal some truths by being selectively honest: I set a precedent of being up-front about intimate issues, but I never bring up the things I truly want to hide. I just let people assume I am revealing everything. It is an effective way of hiding (Ericsson 47).
Another form of deflection is shifting the focus from the point a person wants to avoid to a different unrelated matter. The means is narrated in the article using the example of Clarence Thomas, who used deflecting to shift focus to an unrelated subject. Displaying passive aggressive behaviors is also a form of deflection. The method is common among politicians who refuse to respond to allegations.
Deflection is closely associated with omission, which relies on omitting facts. The author starts this form of lying by adding a quote that the cruelest lies are often told in silence. She explains how surprised she was when she discovered a rabbinical legend telling that there was another woman in the story of Adam and Eve. The author describes how discovering various omissions in the Bible offended her, as if, as she says, she was spiritually robbed. For this type of deception, it is clear that omission as a form of deception is very cruel. The author uses herself and the Christian and Jewish women who were deceived this way into believing they were the lesser gender.
Another way lies are told, according to the article, is through stereotypes and cliches. A stereotype is an oversimplified belief about a person, situation, or group. A cliché is an overused phrase and demonstrates the lack of original thought. The need to receive vast amounts of information has made people vulnerable to deception using stereotypes. According to the article, all “isms” such as racism, sexism, and feminism are fueled by clichés that advocate ignorance, omission, and exaggeration (Ericsson 125). Lack of original opinions is the leading cause of stereotyping. People also lie because of being part of a group where the sense of belonging is more important than any other value. When one belongs to a particular group, some lies that the person would not make on their own are intertwined into their character. An example of a lie in the article caused by groupthink is the belief held by many Americans that the Japanese would not date Strick the Pearl Harbor.
The only way of lying without reproach is for its own sake. This lie is not made to protect yourself or the person being lied to but just a bald-faced lie. An example of an out-and-out lie is the read my lips statement. The article narrates how she received an out-and-out lie from a five-year-old nephew when she asked her a question. These types of lies are the only ones without a goal of the eight discussed. Another way people lie, especially to themselves, is through dismissal. Ericsson states that “The roots of many mental disorders can be traced to a dismissal of the reality” (127). This is so since people do not like receiving reality as it is but rather prefer to dismiss some facts. Dismissal is dangerous but also plays a pivotal role in many people’s lives who, without it, would be miserable.
Closely related to dismissal is the lie of delusion, where people see their excuses as facts. Delusion is widespread as it relies on the confirmation bias theory and filtering things that contradict a person’s beliefs. Delusion, just like dismissal, acts as a survival mechanism because, without misapprehension, humans would stop doing some activities, and they would paralyze the economy. As the author states, delusion helps in maintaining the status quo. Delusion merges other forms of lies such as dismissal and omission and converts them to oneself lies. The author clearly states the casual effect when discussing these different ways people lie. From the evidence, the author does not believe it is possible to eliminate lies from our lives. In her conclusion, the author warns people against living a lie which is opposed to telling functional lies.
There are eight ways and kinds of lies that people tell, and they serve different purposes, according to Ericsson. They include; the white lie, façades, ignoring plain facts, deflecting, omission, stereotypes, clichés, groupthink, out-and-out lies, dismissal, and delusion. Ericsson’s article aims to inform the readers about how they lie and how they may be lied to. Moreover, the author incorporates personal and other stories to drive her points home. She manages to link her ideas flawlessly and adds quotes that summarize and guide the audience while reading. Although she agrees that people must lie, the author warns her readers against living a lie. If the results that one derives from lying are not positive, then she advocates not lying.
Work Cited
Ericsson, Stephanie. “The Ways We Lie.” Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. 9th ed. Ed. Laurie G. Krizner and Stephen R. Mandell. New York. Bedford, 2004, pp. 612-15.