Mirrors Don’t Lie

In The Lie by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Eli Remenzel is a thirteen-year-old boy on his way to The Whitehill Preparatory School with his parents. Little do they know that Eli is keeping a big secret from them: he didn’t get accepted to the school. As the story unfolds Eli finally cracks under the pressure of the lie as the headmaster informs his parents that he wasn’t accepted at Whitehill. What happens next is a disaster. As I was reading the story I noticed a lot of qualities in the different characters that are traits I see in myself. Eli, his mother Sylvia, and his father Doctor Remenzel all have different characteristics that reflect me. These characteristics are what blend together to make me a unique individual.

First I’ll focus on the similarities between Eli and myself. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. writes, “Eli sat up again, but began to slump almost immediately (…) hoping to die or disappear.” This was written while Eli kept the secret from his parents. As I reread the passage I disliked the way Eli decided to handle his secret. Instead of coming right out and telling his parents what the problem was, he ignored it, and every mile they drove it became bigger and harder to hold in. Notice the word slump in the above passage from the story. This was the first thing to pop out at me indicating our similarity, because the word creates a vivid picture of myself when I am in similar situations. I felt Eli’s frustration building, and I realized I handle problems with my family in the same way. My parents never have the same reaction to a problem, so I’m always scared that they’ll be angry or disappointed in me. This causes me to do exactly what Eli did – ignore my problem until it’s too immense to hold. I also take on the same body language as Eli by slumping in my chair and keeping my eyes down. I really dislike this trait in myself, so when I read it in Eli I took an immediate disliking to his character in trying to suppress my own feelings about myself. But this is not the only flaw I noticed about myself from the story.

Eli’s mother Sylvia and I also have a lot in common. Through out the entire story she was enraptured in talking about how many Remenzels had attended the Whitehill School and what contributions they had made to it. She stated during one part of the drive to the school:

I look through this catalog, and I see all the buildings named after Remenzels, look through the back and see all the hundreds of dollars given by Remenzels for scholarships, and I just can’t help thinking people named Remenzel are entitled to ask for a little something extra.

She was, infact, so enthralled by this information and talking of the school that she failed to notice the strange and awkward behavior of her son. Again, it took reading the story a few times to understand that this is another unattractive quality that I possess. I have the ability to become overly involved in things and I forget to pay attention and listen to the people around me. What particularly stood out in my mind and made me aware of this similarity was Sylvia’s excessive repetition of the word I. To me it represents her attention only being focused on what she is doing and what she thinks. When I jump into the same pattern of behavior I also repeat the word I for the same reasons. This happens most often in group situations at school; I take the lead whether the other people in my group want me to or not. Because of this I found Sylvia very annoying and superficial, which I am sure is how people perceive me when I slip into the same type of behavior.

Lastly, I will compare myself to Doctor Remenzel. During most of the story he is level headed, rational, and calm. This is how I like to perceive myself most of the time (whether it is true or not), but he and I share one great fault that I consider to be my greatest: we both have hot tempers. When Doctor Remenzel heard the news that Eli hadn’t been accepted to The Whitehill School, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. writes, “Doctor Remenzel stood impressively, angry and determined. ‘I mean,’ he said, ‘I’m going to see how quickly people can change their minds around here.’ ” The way he stood is what really made me see how he let his temper take control of his actions. Right away I connected his actions to the way I act when my temper takes over. I can think of no two better words then angry and determined to describe my own behavior. By letting his temper take over he got nothing accomplished and managed to embarrass himself at the same time. The first time I read through the story I immediately detested Doctor Remenzel because of this trait. As previously mentioned, my bad temper is my worst fault. When I was younger and did not get my way I would throw temper tantrums by kicking and pounding at the floor and screaming as loud as I could. Just like Doctor Rememzel, I accomplished nothing embarrassed myself, yet the next time I was unhappy I would repeat my actions over again. I no longer throw temper tantrums, but I do speak before I think and often say and do things that I do not mean. Unlike the other previously mentioned faults, I am quite aware of this one, and I recognized the similarities between Doctor Remenzel and myself right away.

In conclusion, I disliked The Lie, because the characters in it exemplify the worst qualities in myself. Whether it’s not being honest with my family, being self-absorbed, or my uncontrollable temper, I cannot like characters that possess these traits because I hate these traits within myself. Reading about the characters is like looking into a mirror, and like the title says, mirrors don’t lie.