“The trouble with lying and deceiving is that their efficiency depends entirely upon a clear notion of the truth that the liar and deceiver wishes to hide” -Hannah Arendt. This quotation expresses the way lying is a coverup for a bigger problem that someone wishes to hide. Lying is done on purpose in order to deceive someone just like in the novel The Girl on the Train. In this novel, characters such as the protagonist, Rachel, an alcoholic and Tom, Rachel’s ex husband both play a role in deceiving others. In The Girl on the Train Hawkins examines the way which lying dismantles people’s communication, creates distance, establishes obstacles, clouds the truth, and breaks up communication through the relationships of Anna and Tom, Rachel and
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Rachel is an alcoholic which undoubtedly affects her recollection of certain events. When one of the characters go missing, Rachel believes “the police will suspect that [her husband has] done something to her, and I know it isn’t true, because I know him” (79). Not only does Rachel lie to herself, but she lies to the police. She wants to help out the investigation but is just causing trouble, making up lies that she barely recognizes because the addition of being an alcoholic has affected what she knows. However, Rachel knows she is lying because she says, “that day last summer, when I went to Tom and Anna’s, it didn’t happen exactly the way I told the police it had” (107). Furthermore, as Rachel lies to the police about what she legitimately knows, it clouds the truth and the communication between her and authority falls apart. Her miscommunication covers up reality as the information Rachel puts forth, leads to the wrong person; covering up who the real offender is. Hawkins examines the way lying demolishes communication and conceals the truth as shown through Rachel and the …show more content…
Although, lying can be used to disclose something with a positive outcome; to give someone a delightful surprise, however most of the time lying never has a positive outcome. In The Girl on the Train, author Paula Hawkins, exposes the reader to the ways lying impacts someone’s communication, creates distance, clouds the truth, forms obstacles and the way which it breaks up multiple relationships. Instead of using lying in a malicious way, it can be used to happily surprise someone. In this way, we can eliminate the negative uses of lying, and increase the positive aspects of it so people are not negatively affected by
Rachel is an alcoholic which undoubtedly affects her recollection of certain events. When one of the characters go missing, Rachel believes “the police will suspect that [her husband has] done something to her, and I know it isn’t true, because I know him” (79). Not only does Rachel lie to herself, but she lies to the police. She wants to help out the investigation but is just causing trouble, making up lies that she barely recognizes because the addition of being an alcoholic has affected what she knows. However, Rachel knows she is lying because she says, “that day last summer, when I went to Tom and Anna’s, it didn’t happen exactly the way I told the police it had” (107). Furthermore, as Rachel lies to the police about what she legitimately knows, it clouds the truth and the communication between her and authority falls apart. Her miscommunication covers up reality as the information Rachel puts forth, leads to the wrong person; covering up who the real offender is. Hawkins examines the way lying demolishes communication and conceals the truth as shown through Rachel and the …show more content…
Although, lying can be used to disclose something with a positive outcome; to give someone a delightful surprise, however most of the time lying never has a positive outcome. In The Girl on the Train, author Paula Hawkins, exposes the reader to the ways lying impacts someone’s communication, creates distance, clouds the truth, forms obstacles and the way which it breaks up multiple relationships. Instead of using lying in a malicious way, it can be used to happily surprise someone. In this way, we can eliminate the negative uses of lying, and increase the positive aspects of it so people are not negatively affected by