Stephanie Ericson's Essay: The Ways We Lie

Words: 527
Pages: 3

The essay, “The Ways We Lie” by the writer Stephanie Ericson is a well-structured work that was prompted by her numerous experiences involving lies. In addition, Ericson provided the reader with some examples of the ways that this subject is involved in her daily life when she narrated several events like, “The bank called today and I told them my deposit was in the mail, even if I hadn’t written a check yet”. She also reflects her opinion as a liberalist by incorporating stories that regard subjects of equality, just as “the omission of the goddess Lilith from Genesis”, which consequently reduced the value of women in society for thousands of years. Furthermore, she indicated that “We lie. We all do”. This sentence clarified that, in her …show more content…
She additionally utilizes words like “tired”, “tolerate”, and “sick”, which establish a tone of exasperation and disconcert. Furthermore, based on the several examples of consequences that can occur as an outcome of a lie that Ericson incorporated in her work, the subject of this essay is related to the consequences of lying. Moreover, Ericson affirms that there is no just thing as a "good" lie, even if is done with positive intentions. For instance, in a section titled “The White Lie,” she narrated a story about a sergeant in Vietnam who knew that one of his men was dead, but still listed him as “missing” in order to provide the family of said soldier with infinite compensation, thus leaving the family believing that said man was alive for more than twenty years. In addition, by citing George Bernard Shaw when she wrote, “The liar’s punishment is that he cannot believe anyone else”, she reinforced the subject she wanted to promote. Moreover, along the text, Ericson is perceived by her audience as a woman with strong opinions, who is not afraid of the judgment of others or expressing her own opinions. This is observable in various sentences, such as “I had a mouth like a truck driver” and “I indulge in small falsehoods and still think of myself as an honest