“Telling A Lie” — Does it Work As The Main Plot Device of A Story?
Let’s find out
Plenty of stories run around the globe, each with quirks and specialties. Every story has a distinct narrative style and a set of plot devices that move the story forward. One such plot device is - “characters lying to one another”.
I am not a big fan of miscommunication between the characters in most scenarios. So, digesting the story becomes slightly difficult for me when characters lie to one another, and the act is evident to the reader.
In this article, I discuss why I am against characters lying to one another. I also review two stories, viz., “Anything You Do Say” and “The Lying Game,” which are based on this concept and speak about what went wrong for me.
As we advance, please be aware that I will discuss spoilers from the stories, and therefore, kindly proceed with caution.
Why do I Dislike Characters Lying To One Another?
While telling a mystery-thriller story, there are times when the narrator(s) do not want to reveal ideas to the readers right away. Just enough information is provided to keep them hooked, and then, at an opportune moment, the whole story is divulged. At other times, the readers encounter unreliable narrators. It implies that you cannot trust everything the narrators have told thus far, which can also lead to an interesting reveal.
And then there are times when you encounter a completely bizarre situation. In these instances, the readers know what has transpired in the story. Then, they have to witness the characters in the story lying to one another because of their trivial reservations. Or, there can be situations when the readers do not know what transpired, but they know that the version being told so far is a lie. Both these scenarios take away the ambiguity of the storytelling. And that’s where my main issue lies.
Once a lie has been told, there are bound to be some associated repercussions. The readers now know that these repercussions will move the story forward rather than the actual event (about which the lie has been told). In other words, without the lies, there would not have been a story.
This form of storytelling does not sit well with me as I cannot condone the idea of lying for the sake of it, without any motivation or purpose.
With this context, let’s dive into the two stories to see how they derailed in my realm.
Anything You Do Say — Gillian McAllister
“Anything You Do Say” by Gillian McAllister is set in London, and follows a woman named “Joanna”. The story begins with Joanna in a bar with her friend, where she gets unwanted attention from a guy. Once Joanna leaves the bar and is alone, she begins to feel a little apprehensive about her surroundings.
She senses that the guy from the bar is following her. When she fears that the guy has come dangerously close, she turns around to push him in self-defense. But in an unfortunate turn of events, the guy slips, falls down a set of stairs, and lands in a puddle of water.
Now Joanna faces the dilemma of whether she should call the emergency services or run away, ignoring the event altogether. As there are two choices, the narration forks, and the story is narrated in parallel timelines — “Conceal” and “Reveal” (which, I would say, was an interesting take).
In the “Conceal” timeline, Joanna doesn’t tell anyone about the event. This timeline emphasizes the aftermath of “not telling or hiding the truth“. On the other hand, in the “Reveal” timeline, she calls for help, and things move forward from there. This concept of narration really intrigued me as it actually attempts to explore the fact that every choice has its own set of consequences.
So, when the “Conceal” timeline starts, Joanna does not tell anyone, not even her family, about the incident and continues with her life. Frankly, I do not understand why people lie to their family members, especially in case of an emergency. As expected, after Joanna lies, she feels extremely guilty about it and starts behaving awkwardly with her family.
One of my other issues is that Joanna not only lies about the main event but she also begins lying about every mundane thing that happens to her. For example, when she hurts her wrist, she neither tells her husband about her wrist nor does she get it checked. What a stupid decision! Now, along with all the heavy guilt of lying, Joanna has to manage the burden of an injured and unattended wrist.
This makes her even more miserable, both mentally and physically. In my opinion, a lot of the misery could have been avoided if the main character had not decided to lie about every single thing.
Now, even in the “Reveal” timeline where Joanna has reported the event, there are incidents of lying about mundane things. However, the order of events depicted in this timeline seems much more logical as it has less unnecessary lying.
However, what irked me the most about the narrative is that both these timelines ended up with exactly similar results, which is contrary to the tone set in the beginning about how every choice has its consequences.
After all the lies, the main lead ended up in the exact spot she would have reached if she had not lied at all. So, what was the whole point of lying in the first place? What was the point of all the guilt and turmoil the main character went through when she was lying about absolutely everything? Is the narrative trying to normalize and/or justify lying? Or does it want to convey that, despite your choices, the results are always predetermined?
As a reader and as a person, I can never accept the idea that two completely different choices can lead to the same result. I could have tolerated the endless lies, but tolerating this was out of the question.
The Lying Game — Ruth Ware
The next book on the roster is “The Lying Game” by Ruth Ware. It follows the story of four friends who attended a boarding school together close to London and used to play “the lying game”, which essentially included lying to people about random things and tallying points depending on how big and convincing the lies were. Years later, a dead body turns up, and all four girls realize that this might be connected to their days in the boarding school. Hence, they come together once again.
The story depicts a powerful bond between the main characters. Reading about the warmth in their friendship and their concern for one another was an enjoyable experience.
However, at the onset of the story, the readers are given the impression that these girls have covered up a murder or have assisted in the cover-up. Now, when a body has been found, these girls are worried about getting cornered if and when their lies are uncovered.
What follows are more lies and acts of paranoia that could have been completely avoided. Again, one can spot the theme of lying, feeling guilty, followed by acting weird, and then being miserable. Why go through all this pain? The problem becomes more annoying as the book fails to address the motivation behind why the characters lie. With so much dishonesty going around, the big reveal at the end becomes underwhelming.
Nevertheless, I did appreciate the part that showcased how lies and gossip can grow out of proportion and affect someone’s life. Unfortunately, it was not enough to salvage the book or my reading experience.
Final Thoughts
Lying, as a plot device, does not develop the story. Because lies are involved, the story has to come back and address them, without which, it cannot move on. This can be very annoying as readers feel stuck on a single event for the entire book without fully comprehending the reasons.
For me, lying does not help develop the characters as well. I would be very hard-pressed to trust a character who has been dishonest about almost everything, especially when I cannot see or understand their motivation. I can get behind a character covering up a murder if I know where they are coming from.
When stories get their characters to lie even before establishing any kind of connection with the readers, I lose every ounce of interest. I can neither root for those characters nor take them seriously. And therefore, I have come to realize that I cannot feel invested in a story with a fib around every corner.
What are your thoughts about this plot device?
Have you read books where this has been done well?
Kindly share your opinion in the comments
Disclaimer: This article was originally published here. Republishing with edits.