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Study Guide
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment Lies and Deceit
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Lies and Deceit
Fractured images, memories, fear, pain, all came crashing together inside my brain. You think being a regular teenager with growing pains is hard? Try doing it with DNA that's not your own, not even from a mammal.
"I don't remember," I told her. It was a lie. (40.25-26)
Max doesn't want to lie to Ella and Dr. Martinez, but she can't help it—she can't very well tell them that she was created in a lab by evil scientists who combined human DNA with bird DNA… Right?
"To tell you the truth, I usually don't look at my patients' owners much. And I haven't seen any strangers around. As for unusual animals, last week I treated a cow that had a bicornuate uterus. She had a healthy calf in each side. Does that help?" (42.24)
Dr. Martinez may be a moral person, but she's not above lying when it comes to protecting Max from the suspicious characters that show up at the vet's office. She even tells them a weird and gross medical story to throw them off the scent.
"Your hideout in the mountain is nothing but ashes. Your pals keep having unfortunate accidents. You two are the last ones alive—and now we've got you." (44.6)
You simply cannot believe those Erasers. They'll lie to the flock members about everything—including the fact that all of their friends have died gruesome deaths. Ugh.
One, Jeb looked like he was on their side now. An enemy of the flock, like all the other whitecoats at the School.
Two, wait till Max found out about this. Max would be, well, she'd be so mad and so hurt and so upset that Angel couldn't even imagine it. (45.10-11)
What in the world is going on? Jeb is the last person that Angel expected to see at the School, and he's not a welcome surprise. He may have been their surrogate father once, but she's not going to trust him if he's in cahoots with all those scientists.
"Probably not," I said, hating the hurt look on Ella's face. "I just—don't think I'll be able to. If I ever could, I would, but-"
I turned away and started brushing my teeth […] So I put all my feelings in a box and locked it. (46.20-21)
Max may not be able to lie to Ella about visiting in the future, but she's certainly capable of lying to herself about her emotions. She can't even admit that leaving them hurts—it's like giving up the only family she's ever had.
Now my eyes were telling me that he was one of them. That maybe he'd been one of them all along. That everything I'd ever known or felt about him had been a rotten, stinking lie. (60.8)
What's worse than being caught by a bunch of evil scientists? Well, finding out that your father figure is one of them. Max is completely horrified to see Jeb amongst the scientists working at the School—this means that her whole life so far might be one big lie.
Nudge and Angel nodded, concerned, and Fang kept staring at me. I had no idea what he was thinking. Was he wondering if I was a traitor? Was he wondering if Jeb had managed to turn me—or if I had been in league with Jeb from the beginning? (62.16)
Once the flock members find out that Jeb has betrayed them (maybe from the beginning), everything comes into question. So much so that Max wouldn't even blame her friends for believing that she's in cahoots with the School.
I turned slightly so the others couldn't see me and mouthed, "The Voice."
He nodded. "But Max," he whispered, barely audible, "what if this is all a trap?" (89.6-7)
Fang is pretty skeptical of the voice inside of Max's head, and to be honest, she is, too—this could all be one big trap. But it's not like she has any better options right now. She'll just have to follow the voice's instructions until she figures out what its deal is.
"I'm up for it," I said briskly, as Fang's eyes widened a fraction of an inch. I gave him a meaningful look. "We'd love to be made over. Make us look completely different." (109.19)
Being chased by the Erasers totally stinks for the flock members, and they're willing to do anything to evade capture. So when they get the chance to alter their appearances, they jump for it. Why not get some nifty disguises for free?
"I'll always be responsible for you," he snapped. "If you think you're actually running your own life, then maybe you're not as bright as I thought you were."
"Make up your mind," I snapped back. 'Either I'm the greatest or I'm not. Which is it?" (117.13-14)
How can Max trust anything that Jeb says? He keeps changing his mind about whether she's totally brilliant or an idiot, and won't give her a straight answer about why he left them to go back to the School. There's one word for this dude: shady.