The Liar by Tobias Wolff
"The Liar" by Tobias Wolff tells the story of a teenage boy named James, whose tendency to tell morbid lies deeply concerns his mother. After discovering that James has fabricated a story about her health, she enlists the help of Dr. Murphy, the family physician, to address his troubling behavior. This intervention prompts James to embark on a reflective journey through his past, including vivid memories of his father's death from cancer and a pivotal trip to Yosemite Park, which significantly shaped his childhood experiences.
Throughout the narrative, James grapples with the contrasting personalities of his mother, who is nurturing and actively engaged with the community, and his father, who is more reclusive and neurotic. As he recalls a camping incident with his family, he begins to understand the complexities of his father's character and their shared traits, particularly regarding their coping mechanisms in the face of fear and anxiety. Ultimately, James acknowledges his problematic lies and strives to be more considerate of others, leading him to embrace a more productive use of imagination when he comforts fellow bus passengers during an unexpected storm. The story intricately explores themes of identity, familial relationships, and personal growth through the lens of deception and creativity.
On this Page
The Liar by Tobias Wolff
First published: 1981
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The 1950's
Locale: Northern California
Principal Characters:
James , a sixteen-year-old boy who prefers to lie and exaggerateMargaret , his mother, a strong, deeply religious womanHis father , an irritable and frightened man who dies prematurely of cancerDr. Murphy , the family physician and friend
The Story
"The Liar" of the title is the teenage James, whose morbid lies are a cause of concern to his mother. When she discovers that James has written a friend with the false news that she is suffering from a mysterious illness, she feels compelled to call on Dr. Murphy, her friend and the family physician, to help cure James of his tendency to invent things and embellish on reality. James at this point begins an inner, psychological journey triggered by his conversation with the doctor. He begins to remember various incidents in his past that will lead to memories of his father's death from cancer. This death is connected to the morbid lies James tells, but before he confronts his father's death, he recalls other episodes in his past, especially a visit to Yosemite Park, one of the defining moments of James's childhood.
His mother's strength of character is brought home most cogently to James during this episode. When a bear wanders into camp, it is his mother who successfully drives it off by shouting and throwing rocks. Although he admires her straightforward way of dealing with crisis, James realizes he is more indirect and eccentric when coping with stressful situations. James identifies this style and his morbid lies as allied with his father's neurotic temperament. Although his mother is active in the church and the community, James's irritable father will not take up causes or join groups, remaining home as if afraid of the outside world. However, even though he realizes his mother is a better family manager and the more loving parent, James feels he has much in common with his father. Returning to the Yosemite incident, he recalls that the rest of the children become angry with his father because he made them leave the camp and then had joked in a silly way about the bear on the way home. James, on the other hand, feels he was the only one to truly understand how frozen and frightened his father was at the campsite. James especially identifies with his father's use of word play as a way to cope with the fear and anxiety to which he feels both he and his father are especially prone.
Having faced these memories, James apologizes to his mother for writing lies to his friend. Soon afterward, at dinner, Dr. Murphy describes another patient of his as essentially dishonest, self-absorbed, and unlikable. These comments lead James to realize he does not want to be like Dr. Murphy's other patient. Later James enjoys listening to his mother sing and is especially impressed with the spirituality of her rendition of a hymn, "O Magnum Mysterium." When, at the end of the evening, he and his mother discuss one of his mother's difficult friends, James is impressed with her compassionate attitude and realizes that, unlike his own, her imagination is not simply morbid and fear-laden but able to imagine good possibilities. Before she even says the words, James knows she will tell him she loves him.
In an effort to encourage him to think more about other people, James's mother sends him to stay with his older brother, who lives in Los Angeles where he works helping the unfortunate. When the bus in which James is riding breaks down on the road during a terrible rainstorm, James returns to his old habit of lying. This time, however, his lie is beautiful and helpful rather than morbid—he soothes and fascinates the passengers by pretending he works helping Tibetan refugees. When, amid the rain and thunder, he invents his own imaginary version of the Tibetan language and begins singing in what he himself is convinced is somehow a holy and ancient language, the moment becomes a magical one that is helpful to the passengers and gives James's capacity for make-believe a higher and spiritual purpose.
Bibliography
Challener, Daniel D. Stories of Resilience in Childhood: The Narratives of Maya Angelou, Maxine Hong Kingston, Richard Rodriguez, John Edgar Wideman, and Tobias Wolff. New York: Garland, 1997.
Cornwall, John. "Wolff at the Door." Sunday Times Magazine (London), September 12, 1993, 28-33.
DePietro, Thomas. "Minimalists, Moralists, and Manhattanites." Hudson Review 39 (Autumn, 1986): 487-494.
Hannah, James. Tobias Wolff: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1996.
Lyons, Bonnie, and Bill Oliver. "An Interview with Tobias Wolff." Contemporary Literature 31, no. 1 (Spring, 1990): 1-16.
Wolff, Geoffrey. The Duke of Deception. New York: Viking Press, 1986.