The False Gem Analysis

We walk through life deceiving others and at times even ourselves. Whether it’s a politician promising the world to the people for some measly votes or a doctor holding back the brunt of the bad news with a white lie. In “the false gems” by guy de Maupassant we see a prime example of how well deception works. Had the monsieur never ventured to sell the gems never would his perfect wife’s image become imperfect. As my father keeps stressing “until caught you have done no wrong.”. leading me to believe that until I am proven guilty in court I cannot really be held accountable for any actions.

Painting an attractive rosy picture to make the masses accept a bitter pill is an age-old deception technique. How many of us were fed food as toddlers
under the guise of fairytales and fancy prescriptive talk? It starts from getting weaned of mother’s milk to Cerelac -from attractive advertisements to shiny branding of govts, companies galore-Trumped! Deception of all variations is just around the corner- in pretty much everything we use compressed teak wood, shiny plastic gewgaws, fancy degree colleges!!

However, deception is an intricated spider web even one wrong step and you may get trapped in your own snare.
Every single one of us is a perpetrator of deception whether knowingly or unknowingly. As the common saying goes “everyone has a price.” Making it clear that if pushed far enough even the righteous will choose unsavory paths to get where they want to go. Deception is the art of deliberately making someone believe something that is not true. “Truth” is a matter of perception as discussed previously in class. Since there is no one truth then the deception itself may be viewed as a truth to an unsuspecting person and because the person truly believes what he has been told it becomes the truth. It is true all that we know and are exposed to is propaganda. Propaganda is the first and most lethal weapon in mass deception. It can brainwash an entire generation. For example, the children who studied in Germany during Hitler’s rule would fundamentally have a stigma against Jews. Not because they are cruel or have horrible characters or are inhumane but only because they were trained and educated to do so. Education in the wrong hands can be disastrous. So, who is to say that what our education system is teaching us is not teaching us similar things? Our own education system is not viewed as such because every country is doing the same. “History is written by the winners.” So, is knowing the truth and passing on the half-truth deception? Of course, it is. Just because you
haven’t painted the whole picture doesn’t mean the small segment which you pass on cannot be interpreted as a picture itself. Only the artist will know of this deception.

In my personal opinion, there is nothing wrong with a healthy dose of deception. As a famous person once said “everything is healthy if taken in appropriate portions.” Knowledge is power. Always was and always will be. Those who have the knowledge can rule the world. Yet we have seen geniuses beaten by someone with less IQ. This proves to all that sometimes all we need is cunning and strategy trump all. Take care that your webs of deception do not collapse because you as an individual are built on them.