The Lie

“The Lie”
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Not everyone tells the truth. This would be called lying. Everyone lies at some point in their life. But lying too often could end badly. Not only for you but for the people you are trying to protect. The author of the story, “The Lie” is Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The main character, Eli, lies to his parents and, well, let’s just say it doesn’t end good. In this story the author uses good symbolism, has a good theme, and the mode, comedy.
In the story, “The Lie”, the author, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., has quite exceptional symbolism. He uses all the of his God given natural writing talent to describe the scene and make you feel like you are really there with the family and in the story. At the beginning of the book he describes the car driving down the road, and I could almost feel the wind rushing past my head and through my hair. When they are in the school, he describes the room and I could picture myself there with everybody. He describes the campus and the woods surrounding, I feel like everything is just here.
The theme of the story is lying. It is a bad thing and it will always come to haunt you. No matter what you do you won’t be able to escape it and someone will pay the price, it may not be you, but it will happen. Everybody lies at some point, but they can just be little white lies. For example, this is my favorite song, when maybe it is not. Other people may tell big lies that can damage relationships and friendships. The main character Eli’s lie in the story, is that he lies to his parents about getting into a school, and this is a huge lie. The way that the parents find out is not good either; the principal of the school tells them exactly what the letter would have said. The letter that Eli tore up said, “On the basis of his work in primary school and his scores on the entrance examinations, I must tell you that your son and my good friend Eli cannot possibly do the work required of boys at Whitehill, and to admit Eli to Whitehill, to expect him to do Whitehill work, would be both unrealistic and cruel.” This is harsh, and a good example of why lying is bad.
The mode of the story is comedy. It is written in the comedic mode of literature because of all the events that happened throughout the short story. The story begins normal, a car driving down a road. Then the conflict rises; there is an entrance test that he failed and they are going to the school because they think Eli got in. Next, the parents find out and he gets in a lot of trouble for lying to them. The resolution is that they change their mind about the school and leave. It ends normal, a car going down the road. This story’s sequences follow the mode line of comedy.
Lying is everywhere and everyone lies at some point in their life, but when the lie gets too severe, bad things happen and some traditions have to be broken. Lying is just another way to get around things, but if you are brave enough, you should just come out and say the truth. People will thank you for it in the long run