"Honest is the best policy" may be a cliched aphorism. However, it contains an enormous amount of truth. Although some may think that deception is not always despicable, it can never be justified.
To begin with, deception can result in a horrible catastrophe beyond our expectations. Abigail Williams, the antagonist in the play The Crucible, explicitly reveals that deception is malignant. After ger affair with her master, John Proctor, is disclosed, she is fired by his wife, Elizabeth. Abigail becomes malicious and jealous of Elizabeth, thus creating and spreading rumors that there are witches in the town and Elizabeth is one of them. This accusation later leads to a trial, which eventually hangs dozens of innocent people including John and Elizabeth. Finally. the accusation is divulged to be a fraud, but it is too late. Although Abigail uses the deception for her own trifling purpose, in the end the fraud puts a trememdous number of people to death. As illustrated above, using deception can have a debilitating effect on our society. Thus, deception is unjustifiable.
Moreover, deception can lead to more dire consquences. One deception begets another, which begets another. This can be demonstrated in my schoolmate Joe's experience. One day, he did not finish his homework because he had spent time playing a video game. However, when his mother found out that he had not finished his homework, he would have to quit playing video game. Therefore, he claimed that he had had a family emergency. The teacher kept asking him so that Joe had to fabricate more fradulent stories, and eventually told the teacher that he had been very sick, which was a lie as well. It was not long until his deception was revealed. He had to compensate for all his tales and, crucially, he lost his credibility. If he had not lied and just told the truth at the first stage, his plight would not have been as bad as it was. However, he continued using deception, which he could not cease, and the result became irrevocable. As one can see, a lie begets another. That process can bring a destructive outcome.
To sum up, deception can never be justified and should not be used at any time. |