Stephanie Ericsson analyzes various types of lying in “The Ways We Lie” and believes we would be less tolerant of these lies if we stop telling them ourselves. Ericsson includes several ways that we lie in our everyday lives such as Facades, Deflecting, Groupthink, Delusion, and many others. These forms of deception are found heavily scattered throughout pop culture, specifically literature. In the short essay “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell depicts a man burdened with the lies he gives because of his job in Burma as a British soldier. According to Stephanie Ericsson, one way that we lie to ourselves and others is through a technique called Facades. George Orwell lies to himself using Facades because he feels he must kill the elephant to refrain from looking like an imbecile to the Burmese as he is an officer of the empire. He feels obligated to shoot the elephant “solely to avoid looking a fool” (309). He continues to call for “a rifle and five cartridges” although he knows it is wrong (305). He even admits “[he] did not in the least want to …show more content…
According to Stephanie Ericsson, one more way that we lie is through a technique called Groupthink. After her mother commits suicide, a young girl named Mariam is left to the care of her father, Jalil, and his three wives, who have found her a “suitor” in hopes of getting rid of her. Even as Mariam begs Jalil to stop this, he refuses to acknowledge her pleas and lets his wives deliver the news. Jalil’s wives press him to convince Mariam to comply, “watching him” as they wait for his response to his “illegitimate” daughter. Despite his obvious guilt, he continues to stay silent and permits the wedding as he had “already given Rasheed his answer”. Acting as though “he was the one to whom something was being done”, Jalil implores Mariam to accept, pleasing his