Playboy of the Western World

Why did Christy act the way he did? He seemed to lie about who he was and what he did. As it turns out, his 'lie' was an exaggeration, played up with the help and encouragement around him.

Could it be that people tend to make expectations of others based on first impressions? If this is true, then it could explain why Christy exaggerated his story. He could have been trying to live up to the expectations of the town, and wanting to impress them.

Also, the people of the small town rarely encountered travelers. There is the chance that they have gotten bored of their town and usual day-to-day occurrences. When a mysterious, young man happened upon them, they may have fantasized about who he was, and they probably made his story more extravagant than it was in reality. For Pegeen, the chance of falling in love instead of being in an arranged marriage sounded exciting and fantastic.

Christy's story sounded gruesome and frightening; why would anyone want to be around such a person, or even marry him? It could be that people can make excuses, and in fantasy and delusion, change bad qualities into good ones. He killed his da?!?--- He must be strong and brave! ---He must have had good reason; He's probably been through a lot! ---Poor Christy!

The people quickly turned on Christy when his tale turned out to be exaggerated and his dad not truly dead. Though he may not be as much of a criminal, his tale wasn't as exciting, and he wasn't as brave and not very honest. The people's impression was wrong, and they felt as if they had been lied to. Also, their relief from their boring day-to-day life wasn't as fantastic as they had hoped, or as it had been made out to be.