No one's really telling the whole truth in Legend. June and Day both realize over the course of the novel that the Republic isn't being honest with its citizens about the plague or the Trial—there's something fishy going on with how the infections start up or how children disappear after failing their Trial.
And when June goes on her plan to avenge Metias's death, she has to lie and pretend that she's another street rat in order to get close to Day—and, of course, the Republic has lied to her about who killed her brother in the first place.
Even at the very end, we see Day's brother John deceiving the public in order to save his brother—he puts on Day's execution blindfold so that he will be killed instead of his brother. Though everyone lies in Legend, it's more important to look at the motives behind the lies than the lies themselves. That's where the difference between good and evil lies in this book.
Questions About Lies and Deceit
- How does June deceive Day into believing that she's a street rat like him, and why?
- Why does Day let his mother think that he's dead for so many years?
- How has the government been lying to its citizens, and how do Day and June find out about it?
Chew on This
June comes to help Day because he is the only person who does not lie to her at some point in the book.
The whole mission to capture Day is just a highly orchestrated lie by the government to hide the fact that it's behind Metias's death—and behind June's parents' deaths.