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Ethan Howard

Dr. Andrew McCarthy

UHON 1020

29 March 2017

Lies and Deception in City of Thieves

When a human is put in a dangerous situation, what is the best method used to stay alive?

Some might say one should use aggression to the point of overwhelming your enemy. However,

this is risky because it puts the person in more danger than they were before. Therefore, the

smartest way to escape is by outsmarting your opponent through lying. In City of Thieves, David

Benioff begs the readers to look at the topic of lying and deception more in-depth, especially

during the literacy test scene. Within the scene, those judged literates falsely assume they will

live and be rewarded while those who are judged illiterate will be expected to work in the labor

camps. The main characters, Lev, Kolya, and Vika are so intelligent though that they use the

method of lying to get out of the situation and essentially avoid death. This raises a question

philosophers and religious people have been trying to answer since the dawn of humanity: Is

lying ever justified? Even though the obvious answer seems like yes, especially in their

situation, lying has been something viewed as unethical and immoral because it presents false

information while taking advantage of others. The fact they concealed their true intention of

lying under that type of pressure is quite impressive. Normally, when a person is lying it can be

detected through their body language and movements. By looking at the psychology of

falsehoods and deception techniques, it is possible to understand what is going on in Lev, Kolya,

and Vikas mind and why they choose to lie.

Before examining the justification for lying, one must first understand what these

concepts mean. First, trying to define lying in one definition has been impossible because there is
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no universal code of ethics. Without a universal code of ethics, what one group of people may

think is lying may not be to another group. However, according to The Stanford Encyclopedia of

Philosophy, to lie is defined as to make a false-believed statement to another person with the

intention that the other person believe that statement to be true. The key word in this entire

definition is the word intention because it implies the person telling the lie is purposefully

trying to trick the other person whether they know it or not. The action of lying has been thought

out and premeditated. This is displayed in City of Thieves when the Nazis successfully trick most

of the Russian prisoners into showing off their intellect. The Germans were able to deceive them

to the point even then they [the literate prisoners] didnt understand what was happening to

them. How could they? They were good students; they had passed the test and been rewarded

(Benioff 196). The Nazis achieved this through their rhetoric and empty promises that sound so

rewarding: Those we judge literate will come with us to Vyborg, where I can promise you three

meals a day while you translate documents for the provisional government (Benioff 191). This

example is a perfect representation of what lying is and how it can be employed on the weak

minded. Lev, Kolya, and Vika use it as well when they deceive the Germans into thinking they

are illiterate.

Defining lying is not an easy task because it is an ambiguous term. It can be interpreted

different ways for various groups of people. However, the tactics investigators use to determine

whether or not someone is lying to them comes from three main areas: emotions, body language,

and verbal language. If all of these are mastered, one can effectively deceive anyone they want.

Emotions could be argued as being the most significant because they in turn control your verbal

and nonverbal language. Body, or nonverbal language is the most obvious. A person could be

silent and not expressing any emotion, but still arouse suspicion for investigators if they fidget or
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shift their eyes. Lastly, verbal language is not necessarily important because of the wording, but

also because of the tone and rate of how the words are delivered. Even though investigators can

be told to look through the lens of these concepts, their chance of detecting lying is just 53

percentnot much better than flipping a coin (Adelson). After looking at these different areas

used to deceive, it is possible to understand how Lev and Kolya were able to trick the Nazis.

As I stated earlier, detecting emotion can tell us more than verbal and nonverbal language

yet it is also the hardest to get out of an individual. The rawness of human emotion is out of a

persons control even if they can mask it. It is displayed not in times of happiness and joy but in

periods of stress and despair. Therefore, when it comes to detecting deception, having the

knowledge of differentiating an emotion someone is portraying is essential in determining their

guilt or innocence. According to psychologists, Bella DePaulo PhD from the University of

California and Wendy Morris from the University of Virginia, liars seem more negative--more

nervous and complaining, and less cooperative--than truth-tellers, they say. This statement

proves fear is an emotion expressed by liars but it is not the only one as most people may think.

There are three common emotions associated with deceit: fear, excitement, and guilt (Vrij,

Edward, Roberts, and Bull). Even though excitement is less common, some people feel a rush

from fooling other people. Guilt and fear are more prevalent because they are natural reactions

after a person commits an act they feel to be wrong. In City of Thieves, Kolya gets a sense of

excitement from lying as evident by how many times he deceives people throughout the course

of the book whereas Lev is more fearful. One way to detect deceit is by paying attention to

signs of emotions which emerge via (micro) facial expressions (Elkman). Recognizing emotions

is the best detected through body language or nonverbal behavior.

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Body language is another part of determining whether someone is lying is not. It directly

relates to the famous saying actions speak louder than words because a statement someone

presents will not always match up with how he/she is behaving. A few of the nonverbal cues of

deception include fidgeting, and postural shifts (Fitch). Gaze aversion is thought to be an

effective cue, but in most cases, it does not accurately betray deception. (Vrij, Edward, Roberts,

and Bull). Even though some of these cases can just be ones of people being overtly anxious, it

typically represents deception. However, interrogators and law enforcement officials are not the

only ones to recognize this. Rather, repeat liars know this information as well and use it to their

advantage. They are so aware they manage their nonverbal behaviors to make themselves

appear honest and sincere (Fitch). Therefore, they do not act spontaneous and thrown off

when asked certain questions because they already have an answer in mind. Also, liars may

sound unpleasant and be more negative because, subconsciously or consciously, they know what

they are trying to pass off as real to someone else is not (DePaulo, Cues to Deception). The main

problem with body language though is it can be so easily overlooked by those investigating a

perceived liar. For example, the liar might show signs of gaze aversion but only when the

interrogator has turned his back. Paying attention to the little details and being able to determine

its meaning is important to unlocking the various techniques of nonverbal deception.

The last method of detecting deception is through a persons verbal communication and

the words they chose to use. Emotions and body language are important but what someone says

is concrete and it cannot be denied. For example, in court, one side can have circumstantial

evidence in order to convict them including how a person acted. However, if the defendant

confesses then everything else is thrown aside. Therefore, when determining if someone is lying,

one must look for patterns in their verbal and written output (Adelson). Patterns is the central
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aspect in verbal communication because a person may say or write something once, but it is not

significant in the long run. They were nervous or honestly forgot what they were going to say

because they were under pressure. According to James Pennebaker PhD, a psychology professor

from the University of Texas at Austin, verbal deception appears to share three similarities. First,

a liar will use fewer first-person pronouns (Adelson). They want to avoid taking responsibility

and distance themselves from the situation (Adelson). What they have done, they know to be

guilty and wrong, yet they will refuse to admit it. This leads into the second similarity: a deceiver

uses more negative emotion words (Adelson). Some of words include hate, sad, or worthless

because they are anxious and feel guilt for what they have done (Adelson). These are two

detection tactics to help you determine maybe if someones story checks out or not. Speaking

is only half of language component with the other half including writing and how a person

writes. Someones writing style, even down to their handwriting, explains subconscious desires

they would not dare speak aloud. For example, a liar will use fewer exclusionary words such as

except, but, or nor (Adelson). These words distinguish between what the writer did do from

what they did not do and liars seem to struggle with this complexity (Adelson). Therefore, a

smart technique for investigators would be to get a writing sample either old or current. Most

likely, itd have to be old because people in custody or incarcerated may not willing to write.

Then, you could combine their writing sample with their verbal language and decide whether or

not to proceed in the investigation. After taking a look at these three areas of deception more in-

depth, Lev and Kolya actions, especially in the literacy test scene, will make more sense to the

reader.

To fully comprehend deception, one must see what is going on inside of the brain when

people lie and what the effects are. It is true one can manipulate their body language, verbal
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language, and emotions but they cannot control how their nervous system responds to lying. A

group of researchers evaluated multiple studies about what happens to brain activity when

someone is telling a lie versus a person speaking truth. What they found out was quite surprising.

First off, when a person lies their brain arousal level is increased because of a catecholamine

response that is triggered by the Autonomic Nervous System (Proverbio, Vanutelli, Adorni).

However, this is not a guaranteed sign of lying, but rather a sign of emotional disturbance

including emotions such as fear (Proverbio, Vanutelli, Adorni). Therefore, everyone who lies will

experience the catecholamine response, but not everyone whose brain activity is aroused by the

catecholamine response will be lying. This shows us the catecholamine response is not very

successful in determining a persons specific intentions, such as lying, because it can be mixed

up with other emotions. However, the researchers examined more specific parts of the brain,

such as the lobes controlling memory and speech, and found more useful information.

When focusing on more specific areas of the brain, studies show crucial roles of the

prefrontal and inferior frontal cortices as well as the anterior cingulate cortex affect certain

processes (Proverbio, Vanutelli, Adorni). According to the research article written by Proverbio,

Vanutelli, and Adorni, these processes include monitoring of conflict, the inhibition of

competing responses, working memory, and regulation of arousal. Different parts of the brain

provide different answers into the components of a lie. An example would be of a study done by

Doctor Giorgio Ganis at Plymouth University who is an associate professor in cognitive

neuroscience. In his study, he asked participants to lie about memorable personal experiences,

including situations way back in their childhood. What he discovered was these lies were

associated with the activation of the anterior region of the bilateral middle frontal gyrus and the

anterior cingulate cortex (Proverbio, Vanutelli, and Adorni). Now the middle frontal gyrus in the
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brain is the area the dorsal and ventral attention networks converge and this region controls

where ones attention focuses during unexpected events (Japee). According to researchers and

doctors of neuroscience: Simone Vossel, Joy Geng, and Gereon Fink, the dorsal networks job is

involved in working memory and relating visual stimuli to past experiences. On the other hand,

the ventral attention network places more emphasis on shifting attention to the present situation

and determining whether or not it is a rare phenomenon (Vossel, Geng, Fink). Therefore, when

the human nervous system combines these signals, people in unexpected situations relate to

whether it is dangerous based on past experiences and where they need to direct their attention in

order to fight or flight. In the moment, this is impossible to control because it is the bodys

natural, innate response. However, if one reflects on the event right after it has happened, they

can grasp more of why they responded in the manner they did and train themselves to respond a

certain way the next time.

This process explains how Kolya and Vika, could effectively interpret the events around

him and determine whether they were in danger. For example, within a matter of seconds of the

literacy test scene, Kolya and Vikas history as soldiers allows them to quickly make the

assumption the Nazis are deceiving the prisoners. As soliders during World War II, they have had

plenty of close calls with Nazi soldiers and understands their war tactics better than the common

man, including the prisoners. Consequently, when it comes time to demonstrate their reading

skills, Kolya and Vika wisely control their response to the signals their dorsal and ventral

networks are receiving and fakes illiteracy. Kolyas wording choice is interesting because it

reflects his actual and deepest intentions of deceiving the Nazis. As the reader sees later on in the

chapter, both of their tactics prove to be successful.

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Another study showing how the prefrontal cortex and amygdala responds to deception

was performed by researchers at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. Participants were asked to

respond to 48 autobiographical questions while only providing one word responses (Abe, Suzuki,

Mori, Itoh, and Fujii). Their results revealed deception increased the activation of the left

ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the right medial temporal gyrus, the right inferior temporal gyrus

and the left amygdala, as well as other brain regions (Proverbio, Vanutelli, and Adorni). What

stood out in these results, is the activation of the amygdala because of its role in expressing the

fear sensation and perception (Proverbio, Vanutelli, and Adorni). This leads to the conclusion

when people are lying, they are more fearful and might even express fear if they are not able to

suppress it.

Now after looking at the definition of lying, cues to deception, and how lying affects the

brain, this essay will examine the social aspects of lying. The first social issue with lying is if

lying is immoral, why do we do it daily? Also, what separates everyday lies and serious lies? Are

they even different? According to Doctor DePaulo at the University of Virginia, most people tell

an average of one to two lies each day. The most common types of lies revolve around their

feelings, their preferences, and their attitudes and opinions (DePaulo). People will also lie about

their jobs and failures at those jobs because they are ashamed (DePaulo). Even though this is a

very big question about lying, there have actually been very few studies on it. The results showed

people regard their lies as little lies of little consequence or regret because they do not have to

spend the time planning them and defending their lies (DePaulo). Also, the conversations are just

not as sincere if there are kind-hearted or little white lies. These types of lies are not evil but they

give the impression the person stating them is superficial making the interactions less pleasant

(DePaulo). It is not that people set out each day to deceive but it is human nature to want to
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impress, even if it is short-lived, someone throughout the course of a conversation. People also

separate lies into little lies vs. serious lies. Another study performed by Doctor DePaulo showed

25% of the everyday lies could be categorized as kind-hearted, while only 10% of the serious

lies fit the same description. The other 90% of serious lies were described as self-serving

meaning the liars were attempting to take advantage of someone else for their own good. So even

if a person does not attempt to deceive on a daily basis, little white lies are told by the majority at

least once or twice daily.

The fact people lie daily forces others to try and answer the question: Is it ever okay to

lie? The answer most people will give to the question is what is the outcome? If the result is a

positive one, then it is perfectly fine to lie. However, if telling the lie will continue to cause more

harm, than it is not right. Other than outcome, closeness to a person can affect how often you lie.

If you are close to a specific person, you will be more apt to tell them altruistic lies whereas if

you are not close with someone, you will voice more self-serving lies (DePaulo). According to

Doctor DePaulo, altruistic lies are ones where we are especially likely to claim, falsely but

reassuringly, that they [the people close to us] did the right thing and we know just how they

feel. Humans do this because they want to comfort their loved ones in any way possible.

However, when it comes down to it lying is defined as making a false-believed statement to

another person with the intention that the other person believe that statement to be true

(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Therefore, no matter the intentions or the results, a lie is

still a lie. The difference is it can also be used as a tool to get out of dangerous situations. This is

the way Lev, Kolya, and Vika used it.

After reviewing all these different areas of lying and deception, one can understand more

of what was going in Lev, Kolya, and Vikas minds. Since this novel is written in first person
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from only Levs point of view, there are no inner thoughts to what Kolya and Vika are thinking.

Therefore, when it says Kolya held up the newspaper and studied the print (Benioff 194), it is

implying he looked at the reading for a longer amount of time than normal. This goes back to the

idea liars take longer to answer, even if they do not mean to, because they are trying to formulate

lies during those gaps. Kolya was using the time to come up with his next words and how he was

going to deceive them. As I mentioned earlier, even his words he chose to lie with are quite

telling. His statement of not being able to fake it is exactly what he is doing. His inner

consciousness knows he is lying, but his brain knows he must lie in order to survive. Therefore,

the words coming out of his mouth are so contradictory yet so prophetical because he eventually

gets to a point where he can no longer fake it.

In conclusion, one can better understand the literacy test scene by looking at it through

the lens of lying and deception. First off, defining lying is not easy but it is essential in order to

determine how to recognize lying. Some of detecting deception tactics include emotions, body

language, and verbal language. These are each different but if combined, they are easy to

determine whether someone is using deception. Also, researchers have shown lying can have

negative effects on the brain producing responses related to fear. Next, examining the difference

between lies and whether it is okay to lie, is a fine line and it is sometimes blurry. When looking

at all these different aspects, one can see how Lev, Kolya, and Vika used lying as a tool to get out

of a dangerous situation.
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Works Cited

Adelson, Rachel. Detecting Deception. American Psychological Association, 35.7, (2004):

page 70.

Benioff, David. City of Thieves. New York: Plume, 2009. Print.

DePaulo, Bella M., Brian E. Malone, James J. Lindsay, Laura Muhlenbruck, Kelly Charlton, and

Harris Cooper. Cues to Deception. American Psychological Association. N.p., 2003.

Web. 27 March 2017.

DePaulo, Bella M. The Many Faces of Lies. The Social Psychology of Good and Evil New

York: Guilford Press, (2004): n. pag. Web. 11 Feb. 2017 pp. 303-326.

Ekman, Paul. Facial Action Coding System. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists, 1978.

Print.

Fitch, Brian D. The Truth About Lying: What Investigators Need to Know. FBI Law

Enforcement Bulletin. N.p., 10 June 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

Japee, S., K. Holiday, MD Satyshur, I Mukai, and LG Ungerleider. A role of right middle

frontal gyrus in reorienting of attention: a case study. Abstract. Frontiers in Systems

Neuroscience. 9.23 (2015): Web. 28 March 2017.

Mahon, James Edwin. The Definition of Lying and Deception. Stanford Encyclopedia of

Philosophy (2008): n. pag. Web. 27 March 2017.

Proverbio, Alice Mado, Maria Elide Vanutelli, and Roberta Adorni. Can You Catch a Liar?

How Negative Emotions Affect Brain Responses when Lying or Telling the Truth.

PLOS One (2013): n. pag. Web. 27 March 2017.

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Vossel, Simone, Joy J. Geng, and Gereon R. Fink. Dorsal and Ventral Attention Systems,

Distinct Neural Circuits but Collaborative Roles. SAGE Choice from the U.S. National

Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health 20.2 (2014): 150-159. Web. 27 March

2017.

Vrij, Aldert, Katherine Edward, Kim P. Roberts, and Ray Bull. Detecting Deceit Via Analysis

of Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 24.4 (2000): 239

263. Web. 27 March 2017.