Tell Me Lies

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness, death, disordered eating, emotional abuse.

“I’ve always known that I wanted to be a lawyer, and I know I’ll make a good one. Everybody says do what you love, and I love the law. It’s fun—it’s like a game, the way you work your way around the different constitutional limits and push the boundaries to work in your favor. People like to speak about justice as some fantastical idea, some invisible measure of what is ‘right,’ but justice is following a fair procedure—that’s all. In that sense, the most successful lawyers craft justice. They configure it. What many people fail to understand is that the world is carved by nature’s laws, not moral values.”

The quote establishes Stephen as a calculated and pragmatic man. He perceives the law not as an embodiment of immutable values but as something that the most capable and clever lawyers create to advance their own interests. Law is not about goodness or morality but about competition for power. This interior monologue foreshadows that Stephen’s approach to law mirrors his approach to romantic and sexual relationships. He must be the one in control, and he seeks to move things with both Diana and Lucy in his favor, supporting the theme of Manipulation and Control in Relationships.

“When I decide I like someone, my first step is to gather as much information as possible about every aspect of her life in order to more closely resemble her ideal partner.”

The quote shows how Stephen uses manipulation early in his relationships in a calculated manner. He molds himself into what the woman he is with wants and uses it to get sexual pleasure and advance his goals, emphasizing the theme of manipulation and control in relationships. This is what he uses to appeal to Diana, Lucy, Alice, and every other woman in whom he takes interest.

“My feelings for him swallowed me whole.”

This quote establishes 14-year-old Lucy’s infatuation with Gabe Petersen. It shows her tendency to become consumed in her desires and obsessed with the boys and men she likes.