Student 1
Typical Student
Steve Richardson
WR 115
3 May 2014
Is This Guy a Liar?
In “Bigfoot Stole my Wife” by Ron Carlson, Rick is not a liar, but he is not telling the
truth either. I say this because to him, he truly believes it’s a fact that Bigfoot stole his wife. He
comes home from work one day only to find that his wife gone. To Rick, the only explanation is
that Bigfoot stole her even though the evidence for her disappearance makes it look like she left
him. Is Rick a liar? Although Rick does tell several untruths, he is not a liar because he is not
deliberately trying to deceive anyone.
To determine if Rick is a liar, it is important to first of all understand what a lie is.
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines a lie as “a false statement made with
deliberate intent to deceive” (“lie”). For example, I might tell my mom that my brother wrecked
her car when I know that he really didn’t. That is a lie because I have intent to deliberately
deceive her. However, if my brother told me that he had wrecked the car, and I told my mom the
bad news without knowing it was a lie, that would not make me a liar because I did not have
intent to deceive her. This is how it is possible to tell untruths without lying. So in Rick’s case,
even though it’s clear that Bigfoot didn’t steal his wife, Rick really does believe this because it’s
the only logical explanation in his mind.
Early in the story, it is clear that Rick is not telling the truth because Bigfoot did not steal
his wife. It looks like Trudy wanted to leave him because she says to Rick, “one of these days
I’m not going to be here when you get home” (Carlson 79). Not only that, but if Bigfoot really
Student 2
stole his wife, why would he also take half of her clothes, her dog, and her car? Rick’s nephew
Chuck said to him, “if Bigfoot stole her why’d they take the Celica” (Carlson 80)? Rick replies
with a ridiculous excuse, “have you ever read anything about Bigfoot not being able to drive?
He’d be cramped in there, but I’m sure he could manage” (Carlson 80). His only other piece of
evidence is when he came home and the refrigerator was open and he says that “the kitchen
smells some part of hell” (Carlson 80). I think the only reason it smelled so bad is because the
refrigerator was open so the horrid smell was from spoiled food. He supports his silly though that
Bigfoot stole his wife with pieces of evidence that don’t really match up.
Later in the story, Rick is also not telling the truth about the trailer home. A trailer home
would sink in three feet of water, and would not travel 31 miles in an hour. The biggest problem
I have with believing this is that if he lived in a trailer park, why was his trailer the only one that
got moved? Wouldn’t all the other trailers join his for the crazy ride as well? Also he says
“because my mother didn’t have the funds to haul our rig back, the mayor arranged to let us stay
out in the parking lot outside of Mercy” (Carlson 83). But I say that there is no way that a store
would let you live in a trailer in there parking lot. Also how would they get pluming and
electricity in there trailer? It just doesn’t add up. He is not telling the truth.
However, Rick is not a liar because he does not deliberately deceive. He truly does think
that Bigfoot stole his wife. I know this because in the story he says “what could I have done?
Bigfoot steals your wife. I mean: even if you’re home, it’s going to be a mess. He’s big and not
well trained” (Carlson 80). Another piece of evidence that shows that he truly thinks it was
Bigfoot is at the end of the story when he says “it’s a fact and I know it is a fact: Bigfoot has
been in my house. Bigfoot stole my wife. She’s gone. Believe it. I gotta believe it” (Carlson 83).
I don’t know why, but Rick is convinced that Bigfoot really did steal his wife.
Student 3
Although he tells a lot of untruths, he is not a liar because he is not trying to deceive
anyone. He is not telling the truth about Bigfoot stealing his wife, and he is not telling the truth
when he tells the story about his trailer home. However, he truly believes that was he is saying is
the truth. He is convinced of it, and he thinks that everyone should believe what he thinks is true.
He may be delusional, but as far as he can tell, he is honest about it.