Eli’s Lie

They were driving in the car to the Whitehill Preparatory school for boys. Eli was in the front seat next to Ben Barkly, the chuffer. Dr. and Mrs. Remenzel were in the back. Eli is the child of Dr. and Mrs. Remenzel; he is from the short story “The Lie” by Kurt Vonnegut. The lesson in this story is your name doesn’t entitle you to anything; you have to earn it yourself.
The characters in this story are Dr. and Mrs. Remenzel; they earned everything they got. Dr. Remenzel is a “massive, dignified man, a physician.” He is a very rich man and at the beginning of the story he is looking at plans for a 30 room extension, to Whitehill, that he is going to pay for. Mrs. Remenzel is “a simple-minded country girl at heart.” She is interested in a lot of things. She doesn’t get mad at Eli when they find out that he knew he didn’t make it in. Eli is a 13 year old boy who is supposed to be going to Whitehill but he fails the entry tests. If he handles all hard situations like he does this one, then he runs away to avoid them.
Eli is part of the mode too. I think the mode of “The Lie” is irony. The first part of the ironic mode of literature is normal everyday life, which would be the Remenzel’s driving to the school. Then the next part is mild conflict, this could be when they are in the car and Mrs. Remenzel is annoying Dr Remenzel with all her questions and comments. The next part is the conflict is fully realized by the main character, this would be when Eli runs because he thinks he’s going to get in trouble. The last part of irony is the story ends in loss; this would be when Dr. Remenzel doesn’t think they will be going to the school anymore.
Furthermore, Dr. Remenzel asking the board for something special for Eli is a symbol. It symbolizes irony because in the beginning of the story Dr. Remenzel is telling his wife and Eli that just because his last name is Remenzel he doesn’t get anything special. Mrs. Remenzel is a symbol too. She symbolizes sympathy. When Eli runs out of the inn and she finds him she’s not mad but sympathetic. Another symbol is Eli. He symbolizes fear because he doesn’t tell his parents he failed and he runs outside before they find out.
Finally, your name means nothing unless you earn it. Eli got a letter in the mail and ripped it up before his parents saw it and never told them he failed. There are two lessons in this story. One is lesson is don’t lie. The other lesson is if you’ve failed at something don’t try to hide it.