Fairy Tales Symbol in We Were Liars

In We Were Liars, the almost mythical wealth and beauty of the Sinclair family is represented through fairy tales. Cady Eastman often employs the structure and tropes of fairy tales in her narration, casting the Sinclairs as a royal family that works to shield itself from the threat of outsiders. In many ways, Cady sees her life as a fairy tale, in which she is wealthy and privileged like royalty, but also trapped and lonely within the confines of the castle. She portrays Gat, the love of her life, as a mouse who has been expelled from the castle because he is different and—according to Harris, the king—inferior to the royal family. The fairy tales evolve along with the narrative itself. Toward the end of the novel, Cady has decided that the only way for the young girl in her story to find happiness is to escape the castle and reunite with the mouse, therefore relinquishing her wealth and privilege forever. This, of course, parallels the decision to burn down Clairmont and extinguish the family fortune.

Fairy Tales Quotes in We Were Liars

The We Were Liars quotes below all refer to the symbol of Fairy Tales. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

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I am not immune to the feeling of being viewed as a mystery, as a Sinclair, as part of a privileged clan of special people, and as part of a magical, important narrative, just because I am part of this clan.

Related Characters: Cadence “Cady” Eastman (speaker)

Related Symbols: Fairy Tales

Page Number and Citation: 44

Explanation and Analysis:

Fairy Tales Symbol Timeline in We Were Liars

The timeline below shows where the symbol Fairy Tales appears in We Were Liars. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

When she is eight years old, Cady’s father gives her a collection of fairy tale s to read, and although they are from many different cultures, they all seemed to... (full context)

Cady tells another fairy tale : there was once a king with three daughters. One day, a three-headed dragon began... (full context)

Cady begins another fairy tale : once there was a king with three beautiful daughters, and when the first granddaughter... (full context)

Cady tells another fairy tale : there once was a king with three beautiful daughters, and they began to have... (full context)

Cady tells another fairy tale , about a wealthy merchant with three beautiful daughters. One evening before leaving for a... (full context)

Cady begins another fairy tale : once there was a king with three beautiful daughters. No, once there were three... (full context)

Harris takes Cady to Edgartown, where he buys her a book of fairy tale s at the bookstore. Cady mentions that Ed has returned, and tells Harris that she... (full context)

Cady tells herself another fairy tale : once there was a king with three beautiful daughters. They grew up and had... (full context)

We Were Liars

E. Lockhart

Fairy Tales Symbol Analysis

Fairy Tales Quotes in We Were Liars

Fairy Tales Symbol Timeline in We Were Liars