The Ways We Lie Essay

Heidy Gonzalez Mrs. Cordoba CSU Expository Reading and Writing 20 May 2024 Protective Lies Did you know that naturally as humans, we are not always honest? We start lying as young as 6 months old! By crying or laughing to get our attention, babies fake their emotions in order to get what they want. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon, an interesting story is told. This story is based on a boy named Christopher who tries to investigate who murdered his neighbor's dog. Throughout the story, Christopher goes on a variety of adventures to question people and find more information about the murder, all while writing a book about it. As the story progresses, Christopher’s investigation begins to get in between his relationship with his father and his …show more content…
Although Christopher’s father was unsure whether to lie or not, he told an “out-and-out lie”. The “The Ways We Lie” article by Stephanie Ericsson helped me identify his lie. Her article lists the many different ways that we humans lie through our lives. In her 3rd to last paragraph, she states that an out-and-out lie is “The only form of lying that is beyond reproach is lying for its own sake”. As stated in her article, this type of lie is lying for your own sake and because you feel the need to. This is the strategy that Christopher’s father admitted to using when Christopher found his mother’s letter to him. At some point in our lives, every single one of us has lied. Whether it’s a good lie or a bad lie, we all do it for a reason. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Christopher’s father wanted to protect him from the possible emotions he might feel when breaking the news. In chapter 114, his father states “I never meant to lie, I just thought it was better if you didn’t know”. Christopher’s father decided to keep this dark secret from him to keep those feelings from affecting

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