BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTERPRETATIVE NOTES
THE LIE
MARY ANTIN, ever since The Promised Land first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, has come to mark the highest standard of literary excellence and political idealism possible for the best and most gifted of our foreigners to attain. Born in Russia, educated in Boston and New York, her influence has been widely exerted by her books and by her public addresses.
One of the chief points of interest in Mary Antin’s story lies in the conflict of ideas about truth. David had learned that in America a good patriotic citizen should learn to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The demand for this strictness, he came to learn, was more particularly severe when assertions were recorded in writing on public documents. The little boy understood equally well that the training which his father had received in Russia made it seem right in certain cases to swear falsely and deceive the government. David therefore saw the tragical significance of his father’s false record on the American public school document. In David’s conception Mr. Rudinsky had done no wrong in telling the lie; yet that lie nevertheless stood out as a bold contrast to George Washington’s idea of truth. How could the little boy be loyal to both ideas, when the ideas were diametrically opposed to each other?
Suggested Points for Study and Comment
1. What are some of the differences suggested between life for the Jewish person in Russia and in America?
2. How does the author indicate her own feelings in regard to the problems that confront David and his father?
3. What does citizenship mean to Mr. Rudinsky? What are some of the more concrete forms by which he makes his ideas of freedom evident? Does his conception of Americanism coincide with that of the average American?