Tired of ads?
Join today and never see them again.
Study Guide
Legend Lies and Deceit
Advertisement - Guide continues below
Lies and Deceit
Except this is all a lie. An inferior child with bad genes is no use to the country. If you're lucky, Congress will let you die without first sending you to the labs to be examined for imperfections. (1.1.42)
The Republic lies to its people all the time. It may say that kids are being sent to the labor camps (which isn't a great option either) but it's really experimenting on them and then killing them. Brutal.
No matter. They'll forget about me in a couple of minutes. And it'll take them several more minutes before the solider I'd grabbed realizes that his ID tag is missing. (1.3.29)
Day's pretty slick and good with tricking people. After all these years on the streets, he's definitely savvy enough to finagle his way around the soldiers at the hospital. Does he use his smarts for good or evil, though?
"He's telling people that he has plague cures for someone who needs it. He says he knows that you're injured. He never gave a name, but he must be talking about you." (1.5.44)
Does the Republic think that Day's going to fall for that trick so easily? Unfortunately for Day though, he's not trying to find a cure for himself—he's finding one for Eden—and because of this, he's willing to take risks he normally wouldn't.
"Don't question it. You don't have time for that." I hesitate. Day's eyes look so terrified—so vulnerable—that suddenly it takes all my strength to lie to him. I try to draw on the anger I felt last night. (1.20.3)
She may think that Day killed her brother, but June still has a hard time lying to Day's face—especially when she's worrying him about his family. It just seems a little bit unethical…
I'm trained not to take the word of a prisoner—I know that they'll lie, that they'll say anything they can to make you vulnerable. But this feels different. Somehow… he sounds so genuine, so serious. What if he is telling the truth? What if something else happened to Metias that night? (2.4.20)
Hardened criminals will lie about anything, but June just doesn't get that sense from Day. He's so earnest that she starts to rethink her conviction about Metias's death… what if she was wrong all along?
"A lie like that is treason against the Republic. Besides, why would Congress authorize such a thing?" (2.4.54)
June thinks that Day's lying about the Republic infecting people with the plague, but it turns out that the Republic is actually lying to all its citizens.
When Dad tried to get reassigned, Baccarin knew that he'd figured out the reason for his research. As you can imagine, this didn't go over very well. Commander Baccarin was ordered to "find a way to smooth the whole matter over." (2.10.60)
All this time June and Metias thought that their parents died in an accident and that all the military officials were so nice to them. It's not true—not a single bit of it. The Republic has never really been on their side.
"No way I'm taking you to see any other Patriots," she says. "I don't trust you enough for that. You can talk to us two, and I'll see if it's worth passing along." (2.12.40)
It's no wonder that Kaede doesn't trust June. She's lied to them once with disastrous results—why should they believe her this time?
Why wouldn't she tell me? She should think I'd be glad to hear that Day is to die twenty-five hours earlier than planned. Unless she suspects something. (2.14.33)
Uh-oh. Things start to get dramatic when it turns out that Commander Jameson is hiding things from June… does this mean that she's onto her?
"I don't want to do this." Thomas's voice grows softer. "But I did find it strange that you spent so much time questioning Day. Do you feel sorry for him now? Did you set something up to—" (2.16.18)
June should've known. If Thomas could successfully lie to Metias and then kill him, it makes sense that he could spring a surprise interrogation on June. Really, there isn't anything he wouldn't do for the Republic.