That Thing Candelo Blah Blah

In Candelo, Georgia Blain suggests that deception is not just lies and that the consequences of which affects a lot more people than intended. There are many lies in this novel that deeply affect all characters. However, it is the misguiding acts of keeping secrets and not telling the truth that ultimately destroy the relationships between all characters. An example of this is Simon; even though he was an honest man, he could not bear to tell the truth in fear of his family hating him. Instead of telling the truth, Simon “[stood] by the door to [Ursula’s] room, watching [Vi and Ursula]” then “turned and walked away.” The consequences of this act of silence caused Mitchell to be persecuted and charged for the death of Evie which led him to (a possible) suicide. Not only did it cause Mitchell grief, but it also allowed Simon to “[turn] and [walk] away” from the rest of his problems and build up a wall between him and the other characters. Even in the present day “…His attempts to be heard are floundering; half-finished sentences fall at his feet.” Blain explores the idea that being honest with each other is a lot better than not saying anything at all. Ursula was also a deceiver, not just a liar; this much is obvious in her relationship with Marco. Even though, “[Marco] was good to [her]…there was…a lack of spark” between them. Ursula could not bring herself to “tell [him] that [she was] not attracted to [him]” sexually which provoked him to “[hate her] for what [she] had done to him”. She mislead him by not telling him the truth when he would ask her “Why don’t you ever want to have sex?” This also led to Marco “[lying] to himself.” Because “He had refused to see how things were.” The deception of Ursula caused a chain reaction of “betrayals that linked [Louise, Anton, Marco and Ursula] together, and all the justifications [they] invented to prop them up.” When Ursula secretly began seeing Anton “[she] never thought about how [the deception] would affect [Louise].”