65 pages • 2-hour read
An Academy for Liars
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Symbols & Motifs
Moths
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, animal cruelty, emotional abuse, and death.
Moths are a symbol of both power and vulnerability throughout An Academy for Liars. They are related to characters who have either explicit or implicit influence. The first mention of moths appears early in the novel in a description of Wyatt’s magnetic influence on his colleagues, stating that he has “a certain thrall that drew people like moths to light and made everyone want to be known and loved by him” (8). This simile not only emphasizes Wyatt’s charm but also reveals the danger of attraction to powerful figures—this, like a moth to flame, can be both seductive and destructive. Lennon experiences this with Wyatt, Dante, and the power of persuasion itself, with the moth imagery highlighting the theme of The Corrupting Nature of Power.
Lennon finds Dante’s moth tattoos both fascinating and unnerving, especially since “[the] moths on his hands had their wings, but a few of the ones on his neck had had their wings ripped from their thoraxes. The imagery was grotesque enough to make Lennon squirm” (37). The imagery of the moths with torn wings highlights Dante’s own relationship with his power—even though it deeply enamors him, he acknowledges that it harms him, revealing his vulnerability to it.
Henderson continues to associate moths with Dante, especially in the final chapter when Lennon parses through Dante’s past in order to find him again. When she goes to Dante’s juvenile detention cell, she finds it empty, “save for a small brown moth with tattered wings, throwing itself senselessly against the only light in the cell” (447). Dante is gone, but the remnants of his power remain, illustrated by the moth’s presence. When Lennon finds Dante again, she notices that “there was a small brown moth clinging to his cheek. It was a tiny little thing with wrinkled wings, and as Lennon sat down on the bench beside him, it took flight, fluttering about the shell of his ear” (447). In this moment, the moth symbolizes his enduring—if diminished—power.
Rats
Rats serve as a motif related to the ethics, empathy, and compassion. Rats first appear in the narrative during Lennon’s Persuasion I course, when she and her fellow first year students must practice their power on laboratory rats. Lennon is horrified by this idea and notes: “[The rats] looked terrified, cowering in their cages. Gregory was especially pitiful—timid and runty, quivering with fear. The idea of forcing her will upon such a small and harmless creature made her want to throw up” (81). This moment highlights Lennon’s sense of justice as well as the questionable ethics behind overpowering small creatures that are incapable of defending themselves.
Lennon feels empathy for the rats as she, too, feels like she lacks power and self-worth. Ian, on the other hand, is disgusted by the rats, and he seeks to justify his feelings with the urban legend of the rat king—or as he explains, “A bunch of rats get their tails knotted together, and the knot gets tighter the more they struggle to get away. With time, their knotted tails get glued together […]. The filth fuses them together” (85). The rat king itself is symbolic of the student dynamics at Drayton, as the “filth” of competition, sabotage, and violence, fuses the students together. Yet, Lennon is still able to empathize with students who regard her with jealousy—this includes her closest friend Blaine—since she understands their reasons. Ian, on the other hand, reacts with anger and violence when he doesn’t succeed at school, showing their fundamentally different perspectives.
To escape Drayton before Eileen can use her as an object, Lennon persuades the rats to save her and attack those who seek to harm her. However, the power does not hurt the rats, and Gregory, Lennon’s rat, leads the charge. When Alec Becker tries to harm Lennon, the rats attack him, and Lennon notes that “[Becker] hit the ground, consumed by the writhing horde of rats. There were dozens of them, wriggling through his clothes and consuming his face” (409). Lennon’s ethical treatment of the rats motivates the creatures to help.
The Aberration
The aberration is Lennon’s dark reflection, and it is symbolic of Lennon’s fractured perception of herself. It is an externalization of her shame, rage, and suppressed power. When Lennon first sees the aberration in the mirror at her engagement party in Chapter 1, it acts bizarrely, “slid[ing] its hands around Lennon’s waist from behind, the way that a lover might” (3). The gesture from the aberration is seemingly mocking, as Lennon doesn’t love herself at the beginning of the novel. Instead, she is alienated from herself, feeling misery and powerlessness. The aberration’s mimicry of affection represents her self-loathing.
However, by the final chapters, Lennon’s relationship with the aberration shifts completely. She perceives herself as she is: A powerful woman who is worthy of love and respect and is capable of stopping Eileen from harming Dante or Drayton. At this point, she is no longer unnerved by her dark double since she accepts herself completely. To stop Eileen, Lennon works with her aberration, and “for the first time, they [move] in perfect tandem” together to kill Eileen (422). Lennon is not consumed by guilt or fear, as she was in the past, instead reclaiming her fierceness and violence as it allows her to escape and save Drayton and Dante. In this moment, she discovers that the aberration she has always dreaded is in fact her ally.
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