The Walking Dead: Lies and Liars!

There are many obvious lies and liars in The Walking Dead. This makes sense because lies are a part of everyday life. According to Dr. House,

"“It’s a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what. The weird thing about telling someone they’re dying is it tends to focus their priorities. You find out what matters to them. What they’re willing to die for. What they’re willing to lie for.”"

And the George Costanza theory tells us, “It’s not a lie, if you believe it.” Of course, a lie is a lie, no matter what, but we have different perceptions of the severity of lies: little white lies, lies to protect people’s feelings, lies of omission. Let’s take a look at the lies in our Zombie World and why some seem more forgivable than others.

The first lie and biggest liar that leaps to mind is probably Eugene. His lie is one that, like many we tell as kids, started out small and snowballed. It became so big that he didn’t know how to confess and get out of it. It really follows House’s and Costanza’s theories. His priority was staying alive and getting protected. He almost believed his lie in the sense that he thought that if he couldn’t save the world or help people , he held no value and nobody would help him or protect him. And he believed that Washington held the greatest chance of help and safety for people. Eugene’s lie seems to be one that is considered huge and almost unforgivable by some characters and fans, solidifying his cowardice. And cowardice seems to be the greatest sin of all to many fans and other characters. Father Gabriel is another one who has told lies and is a coward. His sins greater though because they include betrayal to our group members.

An interesting scene that dealt with lies was Tyreese’s death hallucinations.

He and some of his hallucinations fought back against the lies of The Governor and Martin. Were they lies? Were they differences in perception? Bob said it best when Tyreese was being taunted by Martin’s domino theory. “That’s bullsh*t!” If life is all dominos then we’re all responsible for everything, why blame just Tyreese?

The Governor, who whispered, “Liar!” was guilty of many lies himself. He spun many stories to his town of Woodbury about battles and losses to make them seem necessary. He lied to the people of Martinez’s camp to get them to attack the prison. His lies certainly highlighted what his priorities were.

Let’s take a look at a character who has a difficult time lying and how that has affected some situations, Glenn! “There’s walkers in the barn and Lori s pregnant.” This one truth set off a chain of events including Sophia coming out of the barn, Hershel realizing he was wrong about the walkers, Shane luring Rick into the woods and getting himself killed, the barn fire, losing Andrea, finding the prison and learning that we’re all infected–talk about dominos!

Why do we lie? Are some lies necessary? Why do some lies seem unforgivable? What other lies have been important turning points or plot points in The Walking Dead? Think about Shane, Daryl and Merle, Carol, and many others.

Next: Walking Dead 50 most shocking moments and deaths

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