The Truth About Lying General Statements English Literature Essay

– Is it not amazing that lying has become so common in the world that people forget the difference between the reality and falsehood?

– Everyone associates with lies so often that one underestimates its effects.

– Arthur Miller does a great job showing the bad impact lies tend to have on individuals in his play “Death of a Salesman”.

Claims:

1. Every day lies cause harm to one’s trust in a relationship.

2. Moreover, lies cause one to become emotionally unstable.

3. Along with emotional effects, lies cause ones social life to flow down the drain.

Thesis:

– Lies are obstacles that harm one’s internal states of life which makes one unable to communicate with everyone.

Topic Sentence: Although lies are used to avoid hurting one’s relationship, they destroy the trust between people.

Example 1: Take Willy from Mr. Miller’s play, “Death of a Salesman” as an example, his son, Biff tells him, “You -You gave her Mama’s stockings! Don’t touch me, you -liar! You fake! You phony little fake! You fake! (Miller, 121) Biff has basically stopped believing in his father and does not want hear anything from him.

Explanation 1: Therefore, lies damage the trust in a relationship, which leads to unsuccessful relationships between the liar and their family. As a result, unnecessary conflicts are created between people, which affect the atmosphere of the play.

Concluding Sentence: As people begin to lie, the lies create a boundary between loved ones, which causes one not to trust the liar anymore.

Topic Sentence: Moreover, lies not only destroy trust in a relationship, but they also torture one emotionally.

Example 1: In the play “Death of a Salesman”, Willy is always lying to his family about his success in his job, but in the end he cannot control himself and he bursts out telling the truth. He begins by telling Linda, “Oh, I’ll knock ’em dead next week. I’ll go to Hartford. I’m very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don’t seem to take me. I know it when I walk in. They seem to laugh at me. (Miller, 36)” He finishes with telling Linda how fat and foolish he looks.

Explanation 1: Lies are always neglecting one’s true abilities which tears one down to a point where one cannot control his or her emotions when the truth seems to confront them often. Initially lies stand in front of one to protect them from feeling ashamed of the truth and in the end that favour harms one so deeply that they want to die.

Example 2: In “Death of a Salesman”, Willy explodes at Linda by saying, “There’s nothing the matter with him (Biff)…. He’s got spirit, personality … Loaded with it. Loaded!…What is he stealing? He’s giving it back, isn’t he? … What did I tell him? I never in my life told him anything but decent things. (Miller, 40-41)”

Explanation 2: Once one begins to hide the truth from him or herself, he or she begins to think that, that lie has become their reality and starts to become aggressive. As a result, lies cause one to become emotionally weak; therefore one cannot control his or her emotions. As shown in this situation Willy becomes angry and makes Linda cry and does not realize that he is harming Biffs’ life by teaching him not so decent things.

Concluding Sentence: Lies emotionally stress out each and every individual to a certain extent that can harm one’s life because for every moment one stands by these lies the liar becomes weaker and weaker to defend themselves against someone.

Topic Sentence: Furthermore, lies cause one to lack communication skills and lose their connections with people around them.

Example 1: Mr. Miller clearly shows this in his play, mentioned before, when Willy asks Howard for a new placement at his job using lies. Willy demandingly states, “I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in the year of 1928! (Miller, 82)” Howard replies impatiently, “You’ll have to excuse me, Willy, I gotta see some people. (Miller, 82)”

Explanation 1: Lies make one become a person that will not take no for an answer. While enforcing their lies upon everyone they meet, individuals lack the ability to communicate with one another professionally because they sound rude and obnoxious. This causes people to think twice before they talk to this person.

Example 2: This is also demonstrated in the play “Death of a Salesman” when Biff says, “… How the hell did I ever get the idea I was a salesman there? I even believed myself that I’d been a salesman for him! And then he gave me one look and -I realized what a ridiculous lies my whole life has been! (Miller, 104)”

Explanation 2: Lying contributes to the failure to communicate with someone because one cannot justify why one needs something because one realizes his or her life is a lie and feels ashamed of expecting a lot more out of their lies.

Concluding Sentence: As said before, lying only means harm to each individual; it causes one to lose all their contacts from the past and future.

Restated Thesis: Lies are harmful words that destroy one from within their body to outside their body.

Claims:

1. The trust between individuals or groups is broken.

2. Lies cause one to become sensitive and sometimes forceful.

3. Lying also causes communication with one another to decrease.

General Statement:

– One must understand lies are not reality, but are rather what lead one to their doom.

*Ms. Weisman I did not know if for the thesis we were suppose to include the title of the play so I just included it in general statements because I was taught not to from previous English classes*

Work Cited

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin Books, 1976.