In, "The Lie" there are many themes throughout the story. I will be focusing on the theme of hypocrisy and the theme of a parent's ambitions for their children. Hypocrisy is the act of saying one thing, but doing another. In the story, Eli's father displays hypocrisy by telling Eli not to use his family name to get his way. Though by the end of the story Eli had failed the entrÃÂée exam to Whitehill and his father was forced to use alternative means of getting Eli in. Eli's father then talks to the board of overseers telling them that the family has gone to Whitehill for generations and to please let Eli into the school. "Everyone of them is a close friend of mine, or a close friend of my father"æIf there's room for all these people, there's room for Eli" (p. 11). That is a form of hypocrisy because Eli's father is using the family name to get Eli into school even though he told Eli to never use the family name to get your way.
Hypocrisy at Glasgow Cathouse
Hypocrisy (album)
Week 47 of 52, October 24 - 30, 2011: Eli and Frie...My second theme displayed through the story is the theme of a parent's ambition for their children. In the Remensal family, people have been attending Whitehill School for years. Now, Eli's parents, who also attended the school, have high expectations of Eli to pass the entrÃÂée exam and get into the school. Since Eli failed, he had to hide the test scores that came in the mail. Since the parent's expectations were so high, Eli did not want to disappoint them. The ambition for Eli forced him to hide the test score. That is why this theme was displayed throughout the story.
Abducted
Carved Up