The Lie essay

Zach Brennan
LA hour 5
Sept. 23, 2010

Dishonesty
Nothing is good about a lie. One lie eventually leads to another lie. Pressure can make someone lie. In the short story “The Lie” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., this lie is about some parents putting a lot of pressure on this poor kid. Eli the kid who was forced to do everything, so much pressure was put on him that lying was the only way out to him.
The purpose of this story is to teach someone not to lie. Nothing can come good from a lie. Lying gets you nowhere, if you lie to your parents they eventually find out, then you are even in more trouble than you would be if you told the truth. Sometimes if you tell the truth you may not be in trouble at all, because you told the truth. Like Eli he failed his test to get into a prepschool that his parents made him go to. They had a family tradition for going their for a long time, buildings were named after them. So you can imagine why they want him to go there. But Eli failed the test so now he is so afraid to tell the parents, so what should he do. Well he ends up never telling his parents that he failed. So when they go to the schools head master, tells them that he failed the parents were really upset, The dad even trys to get him in, by making an exception to the rules, because he was a Remezel.
Lying relates to real life, because most teenagers lie on a regular basis. Teenagers are put into the same situation by their parents. I was put in a situation just like that, I had to take a test, I was so nervous my parents made me nervous. I was only able to get a C, so I ended up being grounded for 2 weeks, because my parents put so much pressure on me.
The Dad in this story wanted Eli to go to the same school that he went to , that his grandfather went to, even his great grandfather went to. He was the 31st Remenzel to go to White hill preparation school. So that’s why he wants him to go to the school so bad. The Dad does not except Eli for who he is. The mother wants Eli to go to the school too. She put so much pressure on him. They did not even ask about the test, they just assumed that Eli passed the test. Eli would not dare to tell his parents that he had failed the test. So Eli when the letter was sent home saying that he did not pass, he shredded it so that his parents would not know.
A lie is something you should never consider for a way out. Nothing good will ever happen. The only way you can get out of a situation is by telling the truth. Never lye to your parents or like in the lie, you will not get away with, they will eventually find out.