The Liar By Tobias Wolff Analysis

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In many works of literature, there are characters that are affected profoundly by a sudden loss. This is the case in Tobias Wolff’s short story “The Liar.” This story is about a teenager named James, who develops a habit of lying after his father’s death. The lying puts strain on his relationship with his mother as she tries to cure him. However, the story ends with James getting new start in life. In “The Liar,” the central theme is that the pain of losing a loved one causes people to deal with grief in negative ways. Wolff shows this theme through how James copes with the death of his father by lying and avoiding reality.
Lying is the major way in which James copes with his father’s death. Most of James’s lies are about his mother’s health