LIES

There are many important topics discussed within the novel, but the concept of telling the truth is continuously repeated throughout. Richard is a guy who comes from the other side of the country, and for that he can make up anything he wants about himself. He fibs about how much money he has, what type of Greek books he's read, and everything else. When Bunny notes that he admires Richard's jacket, he says that it was his grandfather's, when in reality he had just received it a few moments earlier by a random girl. He also lies about what his father does in the oil industry.

Bunny lies a lot in the story also. He attempted to scam Richard into paying for the $200 bill they racked up from buying drinks. Unfortunately it does not work, and Henry ends up having to pay for them. This is the first glimpse into the lying way of Bunny.

The rest of the students do not have individual lying qualities, but they do lie as a group-whether to themselves or to Richard. All 6 students lie to themselves whenever they have the dinner with Julian. They get so excited that he is coming, and they make a whole parade of buying luxurious food and dressing way too nicely. They are completely exhausted and often sit around half-heartily. But when Julian knocks on the door they instantly sit up straight and slap a smile on their faces. Even though they seem peppy, they all know that exhaustion is threatening to overcome them any second.

Lastly, the students lie to Richard. They do things secretly, and try to be very nonchalant about it, but he knows something is up. Richard expresses his view when he says "I knew, for instance, that the five of them sometimes did things-what exactly, I didn't know- without inviting me, and that if put on the spot they would all stick together and lie about it, in a casual and quite convincing fashion." Why the lies? I'm not exactly sure, but the entire relationship of these students is based on fiction. Even after they've become so close, Richard still doesn't tell them anything about himself. They can only go on what they've witnessed to help define his character. As with the other students, they have a real relationship with each other, but not one with Richard. He is accepted into their clique, but still has secrets kept from him. Their entire relationship being based on lies is not looking very good, and I hope it won't be the reason Bunny dies.