The Consequences of Denial by Ellen

Everyone has denied the truth at some point or another, and it often works to save us from the harshness of reality. Not only does the song “Rich Youth” by Hayley Kiyoko reflect the actions and the inner-thinking behind the novel “We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart, but they both share the common theme of denial - especially when it comes to the truth. In “We Were Liars” we see how Cadence denies the reality of the accident so that she does not have to deal with the pain and guilt of what really happened. However, we see that as the story progresses, the lies only build up and in the end it is even more difficult for Cadence - they take over her life until it all comes crashing down. This is similar to the meaning behind the song “Rich Youth,” which similar to the book begins with lies and moves on to show denial of the past. Finally, it ends by talking about how that same denial is growing and becoming worse until it seems to take over. In both texts, we learn that over time denial can grow and consume us and turn into something negative and hurtful to ourselves and others.

In the beginning of the song, Hayley Kiyoko says “I’m giving all my energy, I’m making my own history,” and it connects easily back to the novel. In order for Cadence to avoid the pain and guilt of reality after the accident, she created her own alternate history; Which was that she had hit her head on a rock whilst swimming in the ocean and therefore suffered migraines and could not recall summer 15. She forced herself to believe that the liars were still alive, almost like ghosts living alongside her. The fact is that she is conflicted between wanting to accept reality and remember the truth, and wanting to shun the truth and force herself to forget it. She is putting all of her energy into it - and it is giving her migraines and only ends with more suffering where the only way for Cadence to stop thinking so much about everything is to overdose her pills.

Another similarity is the lines in the song that go “Living, falling in too deep.” Which in the context would show Cadence’s hallucinations. It represents that Cadence is falling too deep into her own world she has created for herself, an alternate reality of what she wants to believe and not what she knows is true. The following line “Got no time to meet their needs,” seems to present the expectations of her family to hold themselves as perfect and to always act normal as her mother is constantly telling her. The fact that she is falling into her own world; Talking to people who are not there, overdosing on pills and in aspect going crazy is the complete opposite of what they want from Cadence. This line as well as the last lines of the paragraph support that; “Oh my god, let me be free.” This showcases the end of the book where Cadence discovers the truth of summer 15 and she can’t deny it anymore - despite her parents wishes. She “wasn’t a Sinclair, and couldn’t try to be one, any longer.” She “couldn’t smile, couldn't lie, couldn't be part of that beautiful family in those beautiful houses.” (pg.5) Just as her dad said in the beginning, at the time when the reader could not understand what motivation there could be to leave.

Most importantly comes the chorus of the song, which seems sum up the entire book in the first person narration of Cadence. “I'm no ghost” gives insight to the end when she realises that the liars have all along been ghosts; That they were never really there and had only lived in her imagination. When she sees them dive into the ocean at the end of the book, never to return, her only wish is to probably go with them. “No fool,” clearly states the most important and memorable quote in the entire book, mentioned in the introduction and ending line of the book that states “I suffer migraines. I do not suffer fools.” The following song line “Rich youth,” shows that after everything is lost (her friends, family, possessions, etc) - all she has is her wealth. And this may also be what the book is trying to say, it might explain why everyone else in her family is money-obsessed and has nothing else going on for them but their wealth. Because like Cadence at the end, it is all they have left. No friends. No family. Finally the chorus states “Brand new.” This could represent Cadence’s change in personality and perspective after the fire, as fire is usually a common symbol to show re-birth, and that she became an entirely new person. The chorus of the song all adds up to form a big question about the ending of the book; Does Cadence turn out like the rest of her family? Selfish and power-hungry?

This denial is also clear in the last phrases of the song. “We make something out of nothing, we keep climbing, climbing.” Because it is basically creating a false reality out of nothing, building up lies which keep climbing higher and higher. And the higher you climb, the higher the stakes are to get back down into reality for Cadence. In both the song and the book, we can see the danger of denial and that in the end we have probably built it up so much that we have made the problem even worse.

In both “We Were Liars” and “Rich Youth,” the common theme of denial takes many twists and turns. However, in the end we see that no matter what, holding onto denial will only build up and the consequences will grow worse. It is not uncommon for us as humans to want to deny things, especially small ones that make us feel better simply because we can avoid the consequences of feeling down or facing our guilt. But in the end, we need to make sure we are not falling too deep into lies we create for ourselves instead of what is reality, because we can not live in our imaginations forever. And sometimes we need to do what we alone feel is right, to ignore the expectations and others who pull us down, even if it means accepting the consequences.