Essay Sample about Lies

In modern day, lies, no matter how innocent or dangerous, fuel society. Humans have adapted to a world in which telling lies is the only method of survival, neglecting the purest and earliest morals we have been taught since youth; to always tell the truth. Diving deeper into the complexity of a human’s natural impulse to lie, it is pertinent to argue whether a lie or honesty results in a positive outcome. As shown through historical fiction and modern day struggles of humanity, honesty results in a better outcome than a lie.

Beginning with The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne does not directly lie but lies by omission when she conceals the identity of Pearl’s, her illegitimate child, father, Reverend Dimmesdale. As Dimmesdale hides behind Hester’s lie, his physical health deteriorates and he grows sick with guilt. Although Dimmesdale is a “god-like” figure among the community and would have received backlash from his crime of adultery, if Hester or even Dimmesdale himself had revealed the truth, Dimmesdale would not have physically deteriorated because of guilt. 

Moreover, The Crucible demonstrates the positive outcome of telling the truth in showing the negative outcome of lying. The girls that The Crucible centers around lies about witchcraft and accused innocent men and women for their personal gain. Through blind love, Abigail accuses the wife of John Proctor of witchcraft because of her love for John. While in Abigail’s eyes, this may have seemed like her actions would have resulted in John loving her rather than his wife, John ultimately joins the accused in execution. The Crucible demonstrates the contrast of telling the truth, allowing readers to consider how many lies would have been spared if the girls had told the truth in who was truly at fault for the witchcraft among the town.

Specifically the modern day youth experiences inner struggle regarding sexuality, attesting to the fact that telling the truth results in a positive outcome. Influencers in today’s society such as those with a great following on social media allow teenagers struggling with their sexuality an outlet and role model. Actor, Elliot Page, formerly known as Ellen Page, came out in 2020 as transgender, giving transgender, nonbinary and gender fluid youth a person in the public eye to align with and relate to. Some may renounce the positive outcome of telling the truth when it comes to sexuality in today’s society, claiming it to be dangerous to that person due to hate crime. Although this is true, the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the mental health of the LGBTQ+ youth has expressed the concern for the fact that a LGBTQ+ youth is more likely to develop a mental health condition than the general population. This surely postulates the importance of advocacy of LGBTQ+ teenagers by people they can look up to.

The human race has been taught to tell the truth from an early age. However, through adolescence and adulthood, this has proven to be more difficult than expected. As a result, humans have adapted to a sense of comfortability in lies. Nevertheless, telling the truth can and does result in a better outcome than telling a lie.