Theme Of Deception In The Gangster's Bride

Deception and its Significance: Deception in 419 and The Imposter’s Bride Deception is defined as the act of making someone believe something is not true. The act of deception has been used to not only manipulate people, but control them as well. Since the beginning of time, man has used manipulation as a tool to gain power and control. Many political leaders have used deception as a way to gain power, through influencing votes and mindsets. Deception is also used in times of war to convince people to fight for a cause. It causes one to feel betrayed and distrustful of another. In the novels 419 by Will Ferguson and The Imposter’s Bride by Nancy Richler, deception is used for self-gain and is the main cause of

In the novels, characters lie to themselves either to avoid believing the truth of what has happened or to other family members by hiding important information. Not believing the truth and hiding information from loved one manages to cause tension in the relationships between characters leading them to feel abandoned or devastated. In The Imposter’s Bride, Ruth’s family is considered to be the main cause of deception to loved ones or themselves while on the other hand Ruth and Winston’s family are reflected as the victims. In 419 by Will Ferguson, Winston hides the truth by pretending to be a successful businessman in front of his parent but in actuality, his income is from the successful scams that he has organized. Laura who has figured out that Winston is the scammer says “You’re a thief and a murderer” (Ferguson, 344) which scares him since his schemes have been revealed. Winston’s schemes eventually put him in an unfavorable position because Laura who vowed revenge against Winston takes all his money which leaves him and his parents penniless. This devastates his family due to the fact that his parents had no role in his immoral schemes. This is known because Winston says to Laura “It’s all I have! Everything. I was at the bank all morning…” (Ferguson, 359). While Winston’s lies lead to his family being devastated, Ruth’s Family in The Imposter’s Bride causes Ruth to feel out of place and abandoned. Ruth’s Father at some point feels guilty about hiding the truth from Ruth because Ruth has been looking for clues about her mother for a very long time. Hiding the truth leads Ruth to feel that she is not part of the family which strains the relationship between father and daughter. It is explained when Ruth questions her father in the following statement “She told me about my mother’s name. You know that it wasn’t hers” (Richler, 186) showing how distrustful