Fitzgeralds lead characters Stella and Joel performed a not so good impromptu act on a gathering. After their performance all of the people present were dismayed, including Joel who first thought about performing the short skit. If all of the people openly showed their dissatisfaction on the events finale, its not like that for Stella. She stayed on Joels side thanking and continually smiling at him for sharing the stage with her.
Stella wasnt truthful on her actions of expressing her satisfaction with the play. But she is being polite and maybe thinks that it will be so rude to tell that straight to Joel. People who are assuming that the truth will cause more damage than a simple, harmless untruth are still considered to be untruthful. Such type of lying good naturedly is called white lie.
Another situation that will show the good reason behind lying can be read in the story The Outcast of Poker Place. Mr. Oakhurst, displayed several occasions of hiding the truth from Tom and Piney. The young lovers thought that Duchess was Mr. Oakhurts wife. The outcasts continued hiding their real identities to the lovers because of their innocence. They intentionally hid the truth so as not to scare them and live in agreeable terms with them.
Pretending can also be considered as type of lie. It is presenting to other people a person other than who you really are. You wear a mask to deceive and letting them go on to believe that what you are showing about yourself is real. The intentions behind this type of lying can either be good or bad. It is bad if the effect is destructing. Like how Montresor tricked Fortunato in Poes The Cask of Amontillado. Fortunato was gullible to trust his friend in leading him on the underground winery. He was clueless that Montresor has a different motive to kill him in order to avenge Montresors family.
While Joels (Crazy Sunday), modest reference to himself as a hack is an example how pretension can not be bad. It is innate to some persons to be modest about their capabilities. Why some people do this It can be an excuse to their failures. People around them who knows them should not expect any out of the ordinary actions or thoughts from them.
People who lie escapes because they know how to take the opportunity of bringing up other things. They try to make the people around them think or dwell or talk or investigate other things rather than his dubious actions.
The owner of the Amontillado deflect the situation of going deeper into the vaults by offering drunkard Fortunato more Medoc. A way to sidetrack any hesitations on the part Fortunato to not continue any further. But being a drunkard he is, he went deeper with Montresor to check the Amontillado.
In the short story The Other Woman, the man telling the story sidetrack his unfaithfulness to his wife by laboriously narrating what happened before his marriage. He shares his triumphant feeling and shuns away the limelight from his infidelity. He never even bothered to admit this. The man who is listening to the story (or it can be the reader) will be curious to know of how he treats his wife, how he feels for her. Thus, he never discussed this.
Another male character in Crazy Sunday showed the skill of redirecting his own faults. I am talking about Miles Calman. Because both he and his wife are unfaithful, he never agreed though that he was anytime. Instead, he shows that he is giving up an activity he liked, in this case a game. Just to show that he doesnt want Stella to be alone with Joel. But he went to the game just the same. He escaped Joels questions, accusations and explanations on behalf of Stella.
Have you ever wondered what makes a truth Half truths arent truth. Anything that we omit while telling the truth makes a different story.
Montresor, a character from The Cask of Amontillado omitted to tell to Fortunato that there is too much nitre and they will be going deeper in the catacombs. He intentionally left that because he knows that Fortunato is already sick and will be sicker inhaling too much nitre.
Another character who omitted to tell everything are the Duchess and Mother Shipton of The Outcasts of Poker Flat. When Piney told the two older females that maybe they are used to finer things in Poker Flat instead of the camp limited provisions, they were silent and didnt tell Piney that they never were used to anything grand because they were outcasts of the place.
This type of lie is dependent on what the person believes. A person who is committing a lie by stereotyping and clichs considers the truth about some things to only come from him. It can be exaggerated, but thats how he believes it to be.
Miles and Stella of Crazy Sunday both firmly believe that the other is not a faithful spouse. Their minds are closed to the explanations of the other and only believe what they think. They shun truth except what they want to believe in. It can be considered as lying because the truth is being suppressed.
Fortunato also displayed the same stereotype. He always says that Luchesi, also a wine connoisseur, was ignorant when it comes to determining Amontillado. He is like that because of experience and too strong self confidence.
The groups opinion on what should be divulged determines the truth they are willing to share, which in this case already becomes a lie. The intention of such suppression of truth is to avoid problems.
An example for this type of lying is when Mr. Oakhurst, Duchess, and Mother Shipton didnt divulge to Tom and Piney that Uncle Billy has ran away with the extra provisions and the mules. The older members of the group want to shelter the young lovers of the problems that they will be facing. They as a group they think the same to protect the innocence of the young people.
The same lying happened when Mr. Oakhurst and Mother Shipton talked about her dying. They didnt waken up the others in camp and conspired to take the daily rations she saved to the young lovers. Mother Shipton starved herself to save food to be given to the young people.
All of wants to avoid being doubted and to escape being caught all of us have hidden the truth to spare others and more importantly to spare ourselves. I think the only way that lying can be justified is when we admit the truth. Yes, honesty is still the best policy. Because if we choose continue to live in the illusion of truth, it will bring misfortune and misery, and in the end, everything we hold dear and try to spare, will become nothing.
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