Liar Liar Pants on Fire

            Stephanie Ericsson classifies the different types of lies that are commonly used by people in her essay “The Ways We Lie.” I agree with her classifications and I am especially glad she included the lie of omission. People might not always believe they are lying when leaving out information since they are not directly voicing the lie, but it is indeed a method of lying and I am pleased that Ericsson takes this into consideration. Ericsson only misses one important type of lie. It is the lie told by those in power, typically the governing party of a nation. This is called the “big lie” and an example of this would be the United States government falsely claiming that another nation is acquiring chemical weapons. This is obviously a very big and serious lie, unlike the small lies told by people daily. People are more readily able to believe these lies as they cannot imagine anyone with the impudence to lie about such a severe issue (Wiki – Big Lie).

            Ericsson’s purpose for writing this piece is to force people to face the music and accept the fact that many of us lie in our day-to-day lives. No matter how small or big the lie is, we all do it. It is hard to be truthful as sometimes we do not want to hurt other’s feelings, or we are afraid of the consequences of honesty (such as when the bank charged Ericsson $60 overdraft fee). And since lying is so common, Ericsson warns us about the consequences of certain types of lie. For example, the consequence of dismissal can lead to schizophrenia since the person is living in a distorted reality (342). Ericsson’s purpose is also to teach people about the different types of lie they tell and the different effects of each.

            I enjoyed Ericsson’s piece until the very end. I dislike how she concluded the essay. “Maybe if I don’t tell the bank the check’s in the mail I’ll be less tolerant of the lies told me every day” (343). I cannot tell if Ericsson is joking or not, but she claims that by changing one lie to the truth will lower her tolerance for liars. Her claim does not make sense; how can her action of telling one measly truth distort her perception on the value of honesty? Also, she is being unfair. Just because she wants to start living a more honest lifestyle, she will judge those who don’t? How can she say that when she used to be one of them? If she was kidding, it was not a successful joke.