Synthesis Essay

Anything that is spoken by an animate being has to be processed by the mind, with the only varying factor is the extent of processing a thought undergoes. As there is a reason for saying a lie, there must as well be some justification for the deception; it may not be ethical or morally correct, but can be defended by the liar itself. Every lie can be justified as there is always a reason a person says something, whether truthful or otherwise.

We are raised naturally to defend ourselves from harm, so it is common to avoid trouble through means of deceit. In Ericsson’s essay “The Ways We Lie” she describes a scenario where she deflects the situation at hand and uses lies to end the conversations. Throughout the course of the day, she initially feels no guilt as the lies were successful in avoiding phone calls from the IRS. It is an instinctive reflex to dodge trouble when we can sense it and that scenario proves this to be true. “The Crucible” is another prime example where the girls were denying the practice of witchcraft, eventually redirecting the blame to the townspeople. This particular situation had a greater consequence as opposed to the first.

Lies are often created to protect or shield the listener from the truth, which would “cause more damage that a simple, harmless untruth.” Source A again describes of a “white lie” where the person’s intent is a positive one, regardless of the situation. But in reality, this is an act of subtle arrogance for anyone to decide what is best for someone else. In Source E the main character Hester protects her daughter Pearl by not telling of her adultery and who her true father is. Pearl eventually uncovers the truth on her own, and would have probably benefitted from just having been told the truth from the beginning. This causes a strain in the relationship between the two as Hester did not believe it was necessary for Pearl to know the truth.

Manipulating the truth to get what one wants is often used in everyday life, especially politics. Source E depicts a well dressed man, presumably a politician, denying that he lies, but instead “reinvents the truth ‘til it sounds better to voters!” He is essentially deceiving the voters, letting them hear what they want, in order to garner their votes. This is a widely used tactic in today’s government. Source D also utilizes manipulation, showing the girls blame innocent people so that they would have their way. Their goal was to get rid of the wives of men they had a love interest in, so they would accuse the wives of witchcraft, even thought there was no solid evidence of this except these blasphemous charges. They nearly accomplished what the strived for, but the fact that the court would rule these accusations valid without any support can be classified as idiotic. To justify this instance, the girls only wanted their love interest to be with them, even if it meant murder of the innocent. This is in no way in shape or form ethical, but their decisions can be defended.

Justifying immoral behavior can be a difficult task, but for the liars, it is as simple as telling a lie. We are trained to avoid trouble, protect loved ones, and strive for our goals, but lying should not be necessary to achieve these things; it is an accepted act in many society, and we have to sift through the lies in order to discover the truth.