How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"How do you like our city?"
"I haven't seen enough of it to know." That was a lie. I had. (1.15)
Pretty much the very first words out of the Op's mouth when he meets with Mrs. Willsson are lies, but why does the Op even tell us this? Is this detail a significant clue to understanding the Op's personality?
Quote #2
I dug out my card case and ran through collection of credentials I had picked up here and there by one means or another. The red card was the one I wanted. It indentified me as Henry F. Neil, A. B. seaman, member in good standing of the Industrial Workers of the World. There wasn't a word of truth in it. (1.54)
When the Op hands Bill Quint his business card, it's a fake. This is particularly ironic for us as readers since the Op remains nameless for the entire novel. The Op's anonymity is also what aids him in spreading lies and getting the gangsters to become enemies with each other.
Quote #3
"What was I using my son for?"
"To put the knife in Thaler, Yard and the Finn."
"You're a liar."
"I didn't invent the story. It's all over Personville."
"It's a lie. I gave him the papers. He did what he wanted with them." (2.55)
Elihu Willsson seems to be in denial both about why Donald was killed and how he (Elihu) may have indirectly led to his son's death. Elihu accuses the Op of lying, when in fact he is the one lying to himself about the real reason why he wanted his son to be the editor of the newspaper. This self-denial may be a coping mechanism, but it also shows Elihu as a weak and selfish father.
Quote #4
She let go of my lapels, put her hands behind her, and laughed in my face.
"All right. Keep it to yourself – and try to figure out which part of what I told you is the truth." (4.128)
Dinah's pretty good at hiding the truth herself. She lies often to the Op, and carries many of Whisper's secrets, as well as the explosive information about Tim's death which out not to be true at all. Is Dinah's lying different from the Op's lying? In what ways?
Quote #5
"Whisper says, 'It never hurts anybody to have an alibi. We were here all the time, weren't we?' and he looks at O'Brien, who's behind the bar. O'Brian says, 'Sure you was,' and when Whisper looks at me I say the same thing. But I don't know no reasons why I've got to cover him up nowadays." (12.106)
When Whisper was still pals with O' Brien and Pete, he was able to come up with a foolproof alibi for Tim's murder by getting his friends to lie for him. The Op also repeats the same deception after he's a suspect for Dinah's murder and asks Reno to lie for him and say he had been there all night. Lying becomes a powerful tool when you have allies who are willing to lie for you.
Quote #6
The chief wanted me to come out to his house for dinner, but I lied out of it, pretending that my wrist – now in a bandage – was bothering me. It was really little more than a burn. (14.6)
The Op again tells a falsehood to the Noonan, but it's only a white lie. What is the effect of all these minor lies that proliferate throughout the text? Is Hammett trying to create an overall atmosphere of distrust among everyone?
Quote #7
"How do I know you'll try to do anything?"
I risked a little truth on him:
"You said you had a hunch what I'm up to here in Poisonville. Then you ought to know that it's my play to keep Noonan and Whisper split." (14.51)
In this exchange between MacSwain and the Op, there's an interesting use of the phrase "risked a little truth." It is interesting that in the deceptive world of Red Harvest, it's more of a risk to tell the truth that it is to lie.
Quote #8
"They're saying you turned rat on him."
"They would. What do you think?"
"Ditching him was all right. But throwing in with a dick and cracking the works to him is kind of sour." (17.74)
When Dinah rats out Max to the Op, Dan Rolff calls her out on it and she gets sore. Sometimes when friends lie for each other, a powerful web of trust is created. But when friends turn on one another and begin ratting each other, that's when the bodies really start to drop
Quote #9
"What did you do to Noonan? I mean how did you strip him and Reno?"
"I told the others that he had known all along that MacSwain killed Tim. That was the only lie I told them." (20.28
During the peace conference held at Elihu's house, the Op plans on putting the final finishing touches to his master plan of isolating each of the gangsters so that they have no one to trust or turn to. The only lie the Op says the whole time concerns Noonan's knowledge of who really killed her. This lie turns out to be the most morally questionable one because it means that the Op is much more directly responsible for his death.
Quote #10
I wanted a cigarette, but cigarettes were too well known as first aids to the nervous for me take a chance on one just then.
McGraw was trying to look through my eyes. I let him look, having all sorts of confidence in my belief that, like a lot of people, I looked most honest when I was lying. (22.15)
After the Op becomes a possible murder suspect for Dinah's murder, we start seeing small ways in which he betrays his nervousness, which is only natural. However, the Op is so hyper-conscious of his every gesture and move that he still manages to control his fears. And the most important quote in the novel that sums up the theme of lying and deception occurs when the Op makes the paradoxical statement that he "looks most honest when I was lying."