Stephanie Ericsson The Ways We Lie Analysis

Do you know who you are? Imagine if you were able to speak up for yourself in any given situation; would you? Behavior can be altered by you and can change depending on who you are around and the type of environment you are in. Being someone who just fits in instead of standing out, is that really who are you, do you even know who I am? In the passage “Why don’t we complain?” by William F. Buckley, Jr., the man in the story noticed things and wanted them changed, however he always waited for someone else to do it for him; he never did it himself. This still relates to our society today because we always rely on others to do things for us. Sometimes, we are either afraid someone will think of us differently or of someone yelling at us for bringing something to their attention. The character in the passage was on the train and it was really hot in there, so he took his jacket off and unbuttoned his shirt as everyone else had on the train; he says, “I thought the passengers would seize the conductor and strap him down on a seat over the radiator to share the fate of his patrons” (Buckley, Jr. 1). This shows that no matter where we are in life, we always rely on someone else to do things that we want done.

“I’ve discovered that I can keep anyone from seeing the true me by being selectively blatant” (Ericsson 2). When we show only the side of ourselves to certain people or hide a side of ourselves, is a behavior we often use and people refer to you as fake. The problem is that we sink into this behavior, which alters the way we act or the way we present ourselves. There are many reasons we do this: being afraid someone may not like the real you, you’re afraid to show your true self, or maybe you want to be able to fit in their cliques. We are just too afraid to be who we are. We are able to dismiss our roots and change ourselves to be someone we are