How we cite our quotes:
Quote #1
Also, dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk. (5.2)
This remark might not jump out the first time we read it, way at the beginning of the book, but how do we read it differently once we know more about what happens later on?
Quote #2
I wondered whether Mrs. Shears had told the police that I had killed Wellington and whether, when the police found out that she had lied, she would go to prison. Because telling lies about people is called Slander. (23.11)
Christopher takes lying very seriously. Is this because he never lies himself? Or is he particularly wary of lies because he has a hard time detecting when someone isn't telling the truth? Or is it from something he saw on TV – the same place he learned the word "slander"?
Quote #3
I think it [a metaphor] should be called a lie because a pig is not like a day and people do not have skeletons in their cupboards. (29.7)
Hmm, is everything that isn't true a lie? Should we really outlaw metaphors? Once again, Christopher displays a frustration with his inability to understand the subtlety of language.
Quote #4
This makes you wonder what he was called before he carried Christ across the river. But he wasn't called anything because this is an apocryphal story which means that it is a lie, too. (29.9)
And what about this one? Does Christopher really consider all stories to be lies? He's already established how much he dislikes lying in general, but what about the stories he likes, like Sherlock Holmes? Are those lies too? Or are those okay?
Quote #5
I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can't tell lies. (37.1)
Lying and not lying aside, what do you think: is Christopher a good person?
Quote #6
A lie is when you say something happened with didn't happen. But there is only ever one thing which happened at a particular time and a particular place. And there are an infinite number of things which didn't happen at that time and that place. And if I think about something which didn't happen I start thinking about all the other things which didn't happen. (37.2)
Is that really the only possible way to lie? What about saying something didn't happen that really did? Can you think of a reason why Christopher wouldn't be as concerned with that side of lying?
Quote #7
And I said, "I have been out." This is called a white lie. A white lie is not a lie at all. It is where you tell the truth but you do not tell all of the truth. (79.3)
If you ask us, Christopher has a pretty narrow definition of lying. (We can break it down like this: adding things – or exaggerating – is lying, and is not okay. But taking things away – omitting things – is not lying, and is okay.) And, hey, even by his own definition, he might not be lying, but he certainly isn't telling the truth.
Quote #8
And I said "Yes," because loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth, and Father [...] always tells me the truth, which means that he loves me. (137.10)
This remark goes far in expressing just what a betrayal it is for Christopher's father to have lied about his mother's death. For Christopher, truth = love. Without truth, there cannot be love.
Quote #9
Then he said, "I did it for your good, Christopher. Honestly I did. I never meant to lie." (157.39)
Three very fraught sentences here. In the first, he claims that the lie was intentional, to protect Christopher from harm. In the third, he claims that the lie was unintentional. And nestled in between, the delightfully damaged word "Honestly" – as if anything this person says can be trusted now.
Quote #10
"It was so complicated. So difficult. And I... I said she was in hospital. And I know it wasn't true. But once I'd said that... I couldn't... I couldn't change it. Do you understand... Christopher...? Christopher...?" (157.42)
This just reinforces the sinister nature of lying – that once you start lying, it's really difficult to back out. Christopher's father expects him, of all people, to understand. We'll also point out again how conflicted he is about just how he ended up telling his son this awful lie.