Ignorance In Kurt Vonnegut's The Lie

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In his short story “The Lie”, Kurt Vonnegut suggests that ignorance directly impacts one’s pressure to succeed, and causes corruption when expectations are not met. In the story, The Remenzels are on their way to Whitehill, and anxiously talking about the process that Eli will go through to start his high school career. However, Vonnegut tells the reader that Eli has been refraining from telling his parents the truth, that he was denied acceptance from the prestigious school. Soon after the reader learns this information, Vonnegut says “Doctor Remenzel and his wife had no doubts whatsoever about their son’s getting into Whitehill. It was inconceivable to them that Eli could not go there, so they had no curiosity as to how Eli had done on