How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Luke almost felt he knew his relatives, though they lived hundreds of miles away. And, of course, they didn't even know he existed. The letters Mother wrote back, painstakingly, late at night, when she'd saved up enough money for a stamp, contained plenty of news of Matthew and Mark, but never once had mentioned Luke's name. (5.3)
The Garners can't just lie to the Government about Luke's existence; they have to lie to everyone, even their own family members. At this point, you have to wonder if they still think it's worth it.
Quote #2
"Oh, yeah?" the girl said. "Who are you to stop them?"
Luke raised his head as much as he could. He said the first words that came into his mind. "Population Police."
The girl let go. (14.22-25)
Turns out the first words to pop in Luke's head when he meets Jen are a big fat lie. Still, it gets the response he wants: she lets go. After a life built on lies, is Luke going to be able to turn it off?
Quote #3
He was so overwhelmed with wonder at everything he'd seen at her house, everything she'd told him, that he started to say, "Did you know that Jen--"
At the last minute, he clamped his teeth shut, holding the words in. He thought he'd burst. He could feel his face flush red with the effort of keeping still. He bent his head low over his plate so nobody would see. How could he ever manage to keep Jen secret? But he had to, because if he told, they'd forbid him to go back. (16.6-7)
This is your classic lie by omission, but keeping something back can sometimes be just as bad as saying something dishonest. But what choice does Luke have? His family has basically forced him into the position of having to lie just to stay alive.
Quote #4
Jen rolled her eyes.
"Don't tell me your family believes that Government propaganda stuff," she said. "They've spent so much money trying to convince people they can monitor all the TVs and computers, you know they couldn't have afforded to actually do it. I've been using our computer since I was three--and watching TV, too--and they've never caught me." (16.21-22)
Er. We wouldn't be so sure about that. Still, if it is a lie, it's an effective one: Luke hasn't been allowed to pick up the phone for his entire life. (Of course, who would he call?)
Quote #5
"No, no," Jen said impatiently. "I don't care about the carpet. It's just that Mom and Dad will know, and when they see I don't have any cuts--"
And then, before Luke even knew what she was doing, she thrust her hand toward the torn part of the screen. The jagged edge didn't cut immediately, so she held the screen with her right hand and raked it across her left. When Jen pulled her hand back, Luke saw a gash even deeper than his. Jen squeezed out a few drops of blood and let them fall to the carpet. (16.70-71)
Easy, tiger. Jen really goes all out to cover up the fact that Luke stopped by for a visit—a little foreshadowing of how much she'll sacrifice to stop living a lie.
Quote #6
"So what's the truth?" Luke asked. [...]
"Well, think about it. The Government allowed those book to be published--they probably even paid for them. So of course they're going to say what the Government wants people to believe. They've just propaganda. Lies." (19.35-37)
Naturally the Government wants to control what people believe—why wouldn't they? They already control the rest of their lives. The obvious solution, then, is force-feeding them false information.
Quote #7
"I was going to explain," Jen's dad said, panting a little. He sat down. "I only work at Population Police headquarters. I don't agree with what they do. I try to sabotage them as much as I can. Jen ever understood, either--sometimes you have to work from inside enemy lines." (28.10)
Now here's a misrepresentation we can get behind. Mr. Talbot goes old school intrigue to destroy the Population Police from the inside out. If this kind of lying is wrong, we don't want to be right.
Quote #8
"So what should I know?" Luke asked. "What is the truth?"
"The truth," Jen's dad muttered, catching onto those two words as though Luke had thrown him a lifeline. He recovered quickly. "Nobody really knows. There have been too many lies for too long. Our Government is totalitarian, and totalitarian governments never like truth." (28.25-26)
Huh. This sure seems like a big conflict of interest between the Government and everyone else. You can't exactly expect people to be honest on their tax forms when the Government is the biggest offender.
Quote #9
All he could hear of the Population Police and Jen's father were mutterings. Then the one officer's voice rang out, "You're lying, George. We're going to search."
"Just because of a computer malfunction? Fine. It's not my problem." Luke was stunned by the indifference in Jen's father's voice. (29.22-23)
Jen's dad is either a professional liar, or he's gotten a lot of practice while working for the Population Police. Either way, he almost makes a believer out of Luke.
Quote #10
Weakly, Luke leaned his head back against the closet wall. That reminded him of his frantic search along its surface. He reached for the paper and wrote, Where's the door?
Jen's dad pulled out a new sheet of paper. Shaking his head, he wrote, Isn't one. Just wanted to get you to back of closet.Luke buried his face in his hands. Jen's dad was a good liar, there was no doubt about that. How could Luke trust him? (29.52-54)
Man, Mr. Talbot must be butter because he's a roll—a lying roll, that is. As always, though he has good reasons behind his little (and some not so little) fibs. And this particular lie is in Luke's best interest. In fact, Mr. Talbot's likes are the ones that are going to get Luke out of his parents' attic.
Quote #11
She'd cried, too, the night Luke had told his parents everything. He'd started with his first visit to Jen's house and Mother had immediately scolded, "Oh, Luke, how could you? The danger...I know you're lonely, but honey, promise us, never again..."
"That's not all," Luke said.
He told the rest of the story without looking at her, until he reached the end and his decision to get a fake I.D. Then the sound of her sobbing made it impossible to avoid looking. (30.6-9)
We hear you: this isn't directly about lies or deceit. But it is about the aftermath of lying—and the truth that will always come out.