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Deception In The Children's Hour And The Little Foxes

932 Words4 Pages

Deceit and Deception “There are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth” said film producer Robert Evans. We rely on the truth to provide evidence, draw conclusions, and learn about events. Truth is not always reliable and the truth can be ambiguous. Different perceptions of reality and motives to cheat alter the truth. Lillian Hellman’s play The Children’s Hour suggests that the embellishment of the truth intends to be harmless, and The Little Foxes shows that omitting the truth can stem from malevolent motives. In The Children’s Hour Mary Tilford stretches the truth through exaggeration, but these embellishments stem from innocence. After Mary’s late arrival to school, Karen punishes Mary Tilford when Mary lies about her reason for being late. Mary exclaims, “My heart! It’s my heart! It’s stopping or something. I can’t breathe. (She takes a long breath and falls awkwardly to the floor)” (13). Mary feigns a heart illness attempting to gain sympathy and to avoid hearing her teachers scold her for her tardiness. Mary behaves theatrically and goes to extremes to get out of this situation. Her exaggeration does not cause total destruction, but instead she causes interruption and distraction. Later when Rosalie Wells is reluctant to participate in Mary’s scheme, Mary threatens to tell her grandmother that Rosalie had stolen Helen [Last name]’s bracelet. Mary says, “I guess I’ll go tell Grandma, anyway. Then she can call the police and they’ll come for you and you’ll …show more content…

On one end there is over-exaggeration and bedazzled versions the truth. The opposite end of the spectrum abstains from giving any opinion and completely withholds the truth. Both plays end in tragedy. Embellished stories in Children’s Hour lead to the death of a school teacher while the forgoing of the truth in The Little Foxes kills an important family member. There are various forms of lying, but every type is harmful and is capable of

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