Analysis Of We Were Liars

Secrets Between the Sinclair Liars The book We Were Liars by E Lockhart is about an extremely prestigious family called the Sinclairs. The Sinclair family consists of the grandfather, the grandmother, their three daughters, Carrie, Bess, and Penny, and their grandchildren, Johnny, Will, Mirren, Liberty, Taft, Bonnie, and Cadence. Every summer, the family goes to their summer island, off the coast of Massachusetts. Of the grandchildren, the ones that hang out the most are Johnny, Mirren, and Cadence. On summer eight, Gat, a friend of Johnny, began coming to the island. After Gat’s arrival, Johnny, Mirren, Cadence, and Gat were known as the Four Liars. After many summers later, Gat and Cadence strike up a romance between each other in summer

Summer fifteen is next, and an “accident” happens. We later in the end of the story learn this accident was a fire in the Clairmont house on the island. The fire was set by Cadence in a plot made by the Four Liars in an attempt to make the family realize how separate they are and hopefully be able to bring each other back together. Three of the liars die, leaving Cadence behind. The accident, being so tragic, leaves Cadence in shock, causing her to not be able to recall the fire she had set. At the very end, we learn the story was her speaking to the ghosts of the children after summer fifteen. Throughout the story, the author does an impeccable job of hiding the fact they are ghosts or had even died. She does so by narrating the story through Cadence’s eyes, thoughts, and memories. Throughout the book, Lockhart puts subtle hints and little clues toward the end of the book and what actually happens, making

“I can see my Liars waiting, not on the dock but by the weathered wooden fence that runs along the perimeter path… Welcome home, they are saying. Welcome home.” (Lockhart pg. 65) During this, the Liars are waving their arms and not coming to the dock at all, when Cadence shows up. After everyone speaks to each other when Cadence and her mother come back, they leave her alone at Windemere to unpack and settle in. Cadence then looks for the Liars. “Suddenly they were on me like puppies…Then we were apart again, going to Cuddledown.” (Lockhart pg.68) There are also a few attributes that Cadence points out. For instance, she sees that none of the other Liars, especially Gat, have grown. “Two summers ago, Gat was several inches tall than I. Now we are about even.” (Lockhart pg.69) She also sees they are in the same clothes as she had last seen them. “Gat in a worn green T-shirt from two summers ago…Johnny broad-shouldered in jeans and a pink plaid button-down so old its edges are frayed.” (Lockhart pg.69) The Liars also refuse to go get to New Clairmont with everyone to eat. “’I’m not going to supper at New Clairmont,’ says Mirren decisively. ‘And no breakfast either. Not this year.’… ‘Same,’ says Johnny. ‘Same,’ says Gat.” (Lockhart pg.71) Gat also compares himself to Heathcliff, who is dead. Gat does a lot of reading and also reads the book, Invisible Man. Throughout the story, Cadence slowly