How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"His family had always been Jews, but I had to wait ten years before learning this." (2.4)
Apparently, Jack's dad tells lies just as much as Jack does. And yet Jack believes his dad's lies, and really thinks that Pop is upstanding. Could that be why Jack lies: an attempt to measure up to a vision of his dad that doesn't really exist?
Quote #2
"My mother didn't tell me what went on between her and Roy, the threats and occasional brutality with which he held her in place." (2.22)
Is mom deceiving Jack here? Or just trying to protect him? Sometimes in this book, you can't tell the difference. (Yeah, it's pretty twisted that way.)
Quote #3
"I nodded and presented her with an expression that was meant to register dawning comprehension." (2.85)
Wow, very sophisticated Jack! He spots what Sister James wants from him, and delivers it to her as a way of getting out of the awkward conversation. He also seems to get a lot of satisfaction out of it.
Quote #4
"I did an imitation of somebody receiving divine reassurance and inspiration." (3.10)
Interesting—he's doing this without anyone watching. That suggests that Jack is deceiving himself. Or maybe God, who is probably pretty hard to deceive. Does he want to try to change his reality by doing this?
Quote #5
"I burned the envelope and note in the sink and washed the ashes down the drain." (3.18)
Deceit is more than just lying to people. Here, it's hiding something… and from his mom, who he really seems to love as well. What does it mean that he seems to do this compulsively, almost before he's aware of it?
Quote #6
"Those words still sound to me less like a hope than an epitaph, the last lie we tell before hurling ourselves over the brink." (11.34)
Mom's talking about getting married to Dwight here and how it's all going to be okay. She's lying and he's believing the lie for her sake, a dynamic that shows up a lot in Jack's story.
Quote #7
"I gave Arthur this news with a show of reluctance, as if I were doing him a favor, but really I was just afraid to be alone." (18.4)
This is pure posing. He doesn't want Arthur to know that he's scared. This is why most people lie, but we don't see it very often from Jack. He's got bigger fish to fry.
Quote #8
"It was truth known only to me, but I believed in it more than I believed in the facts arrayed against it." (22.76)
And… we're back to self-deceit. It seems pretty clear here that Jack's kind of trying to change reality here: that if he just believes in his lies hard enough, they will come true. Fake It Til You Make It Syndrome indeed.
Quote #9
"I did not want to break cover, but I had no choice." (24.22)
He's trying to get past Huff in the drugstore here, so that Huff won't blow his elaborately crafted prep school image. What's interesting is his phrase "break cover," like he's safely hidden in the bushes somewhere and that the bushes make him feel safe. It's not the first time that hiding has been equated with peace in Jack's world.
Quote #10
"'My father left them to me," I said. 'After he died.'" (31.6)
If we look at lies as attempts at fulfilling wishes, then this lie gets very interesting. Jack actually stole the stuff from Dwight, who he's suggesting is his father. That's the Dwight he really wanted, the fantasy that he and his mom bought into. Then he says that his dad died: maybe a subconscious wish that Dwight were dead? In one quick sentence, Jack lies about two ugly realities that he doesn't much like. Well played Jack.