Truth vs. Deception Theme Analysis

Throughout the book, characters often lie or withhold the whole truth from one another: Jacob’s grandfather doesn’t tell Jacob that they both possess magical abilities, Jacob often lies to his dad about his whereabouts when he’s on Cairnholm Island, and Miss Peregrine and the children often hide the truth about the dangers threatening them at the magical children’s home. Even when lies are meant to protect people, they often have severe consequences like breaking trust or putting people in danger anyway. To make matters worse, the book’s antagonists—evil beings called hollowgast and wights—often deceive and manipulate others to fulfill their plans to kill all peculiar people. More subtly, a habit of lying, or simply withholding the full truth, can make it harder for others to accept reality in the long run, like when Jacob doesn’t believe his grandfather’s stories about Miss Peregrine’s. It is only when full truths come to light that characters are able to find peace with and build trust in each other. In this way, the book suggests that sometimes lying seems necessary to avoid conflict or protect others, but that ultimately there is greater value and virtue in telling the truth directly.

Even though some characters have good reasons for lying or want to protect others, ultimately the book illustrates how damaging those lies can be. When Jacob and his dad travel to Cairnholm island, Jacob constantly lies about where he’s going and who he’s with—to the point where it becomes “depressingly easy.” He does this because he doesn’t want his dad to worry about his being alone there, but it comes at the cost of his dad trusting him. Later in the book, when Jacob is deciding whether to stay with the peculiar children or go back to Florida with his parents, he wants to explain everything to his dad, but he feels like he can’t. Talking to his dad is “out of the question” because he worries that his dad will only think that he’s lying or saying something crazy. In this way, the book demonstrates that lying—even for good reason—is very damaging to relationships in the long run. Meanwhile, Miss Peregrine lies to Jacob and withholds information about the dangers on Cairnholm Island because she worries that telling him the full truth about what the children face might scare Jacob away. However, because he doesn’t know the kind of threats he faces, he only narrowly escapes the hollows and wights by sheer luck. Even though her lies are meant to protect Jacob, they actually have the opposite effect by placing him in greater danger.

The book also emphasizes that a habit of telling lies or partial truths can be harmful because it makes people less willing or able to accept the whole truth later on. As he grows up, Jacob doubts his grandfather’s stories about the magical children’s home and the monsters that his grandfather says are after him. However, when Jacob is 15 years old and his grandfather starts panicking about the monsters coming to find him again, Jacob and his dad don’t believe Abe and instead simply think that he is mentally declining in his old age. Because Abe never told Jacob the full story about their status as peculiars, Jacob dismisses Abe’s fears, leaving Abe even more vulnerable to the hollowgast. Later, after Abe is killed by the monster, Jacob thinks over and over, “If only I’d believed him,” illustrating how perceived lies ended up having tangible—even dire—consequences for Abe. Jacob also struggles to tell his dad the truth because he knows he’s undermined his own credibility so frequently. When he finally decides to tell the truth about what he’s been up to on Cairnholm—explaining that he made friends on the other side of the island—Jacob’s dad grows furious with him and yells at him, thinking that Jacob is still lying about what he’s been doing. This illustrates another problematic aspect of lying—habitual lying makes the truth seem less believable, leading to more conflict.

In the end, the book illustrates how characters are only able to make peace with or support each other when the full truth is revealed, demonstrating the value in being honest. Knowing the full truth about Miss Peregrine’s home, the hollowgast, the wights, and Jacob’s own peculiar identity is incredibly valuable to Jacob. It allows him to recognize that he isn’t going crazy in seeing monsters; moreover, it makes him more willing and able to protect the other children from the hollowgast. Being completely open and honest about the threats a person faces, then, is much more beneficial to everyone than lying in order to protect them. Similarly, when Jacob finally accepts his grandfather’s stories about Miss Peregrine’s and discovers the truth of his grandfather’s history, he is able to make peace with his grandfather’s partial truths. He is “moved by this new idea of [his] grandfather, not as a paranoiac gun nut or a secretive philanderer or a man who wasn't there for his family, but as a wandering knight who risked his life for others.” Only in understanding the full truth—even after his grandfather’s death—is Jacob able to fully appreciate his grandfather’s sacrifices and heroism, underscoring the truth’s value. Jacob finds a degree of closure by telling his dad the truth as well. At the end of the book, Jacob comes fully clean to his dad about Miss Peregrine’s home; Emma, Olive, and Millard even show up to prove that Jacob wasn’t lying about making friends. While Jacob’s dad thinks he might be dreaming, he and Jacob are able to reconcile to an extent—something that only the full truth could bring about.

Finally, some of the characters who lie most frequently include the wights, like Jacob’s psychiatrist, Dr. Golan. Dr. Golan has taken on many different personas over the course of Jacob’s life; this deception enables him to kill Abe and to track down the other peculiar children through Jacob. Because deception is a major tool for the wights, the book reiterates that lying is villainous and manipulative—it serves evil causes, not virtuous ones.