How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"What do you mean you're not supposed to be here?"
"I'm supposed to be in Danbury buying cattle. They sent me down from Cambridge with Captain Champion, the commissary officer because I'm from around here."
"Did you run away?"
"I didn't desert, I just came home for a couple of days. Captain Champion had to go over to Waterbury for something so I decided to slip home for a day or so."
[…]
"Won't you get in trouble?"
"They won't catch me," Sam said. "[…] If they come around looking for you, one of your friends says you sprained your ankle and you're coming along behind." (4.42-45, 48-49)
Sam wanted to visit Redding (and Betsy in particular), so he took a little mini-vacation from the army. He figures it'll be okay because his fellow soldiers will lie for him. Sam doesn't think this is a big deal, but it has us thinking about the end of the book when some of the soldiers tell lies and end up getting Sam killed. Maybe lying is a bigger deal than Sam realizes.
Quote #5
"Aha," he said. "Your father changed his mind, did he?"
"Yes, sir," I said. "He said it would be all right so long as he didn't know anything about it. If I just went and didn't tell him anything, he said he wouldn't object."
Mr. Heron put his hand on my arm and gave me a little squeeze. "That's a lie, isn't it, Timothy?"
I got hot and blushed. "I guess so, sir." (6.6-9)
Liars beware: Mr. Heron is a human lie detector. He knows immediately that Tim is being deceitful. How do you think Mr. Heron can tell?
Quote #6
So that night I asked Father if I could go fishing again. And he said yes. I felt sort of bad about it; it was lying and lying was a sin, and so was going against your father. And even if it hadn't been a sin I would have felt badly about it, because Father trusted me and I was being dishonorable. (6.21)
When Tim lies to his dad, it makes him feel guilty. Of course, that guilt isn't enough to make Tim stop all this lying business. He knows what he's doing is wrong, but he's going to do it anyway.