Land of the Liars
Land of the Liars
America is a land of liars and fakes. I have never met anyone in this country who doesn’t lie. People lie because they want to fit in. This is an American value that F. Scott Fiztgerald noticed in the 1920’s and is still very prominent in today’s society.
In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby tells Nick that he is “the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West — all dead now. [He] was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all [his] ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition” (65). He also tells Nick about his time spent traveling around Europe doing rich people things. However, this is a lie. Gatsby’s parents were “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (98). He didn't go to Oxford, he went to a small Lutrheran college in southern Minnesota, and his name is even Jay Gatsby, it’s James Gatz (98). The entire book is about a man who continuously lies about his whole life to the people around him. Fitzgerald was trying to portray a typical American who wants money and success, but uses lying as a tool to obtain those things. He did this to illustrate America as a place that values lying.
Although, The Great Gatsby was written almost 100 years ago, the theme of lying in America is still very relevant today. President Trump is a pathological liar. Last year, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he lied again about the crowd size at his inauguration (The American Prospect). He said that the aerial shots taken of Capitol grounds and National Mall were fake, despite there being proof that the photos are real. Not only does Trump lie about minor details, but his government is a lie. The Trump federal government is not actually constructed according to federalist principles — it is a minoritarian system which grants certain states enormous leverage over national policy (The Week). It is very easy for a country to normalize lying when its leader does so everyday.
Lying is good, but I understand why people do it. They just want to fit in because they assume that everyone around them is more successful. But when one person lies, then another will lie to keep up with them, then another. It becomes a chain reaction of liars.
Paige, You don't pull any punches here! From your title on, you call out the liars, whom you say are all of us. Interesting. Even the words used to describe our country ("America" or the "United States") are disputed and misleading if not quite lies.
ReplyDeleteI like the evidence you use here to prove your points. Some may re-frame this discussion as freedom to invent and re-invent one's identity, as in the case of Gatsby. That's a luxury not afforded to all people everywhere.
A little confusing when you start your last paragraph by saying "lying is good". That never quite gets explained except in terms of assimilation which seems to be a competing claim here.