Family of Liars

Family of Liars is set in the summer of 1987. While this era may seem removed from the past, the end of World War II and the Holocaust occurred only 42 years before the events of this story take place. The characters prove that the broader social consciousness of the 1980s remains steeped in social conservatism despite the progressivism of the 1960s. In both instances, characters reveal how racist and bigoted attitudes echo and affect subsequent generations.

Tipper reveals through the story of her ill-fated relationship with Buddy Kopelnick that antisemitism and the kinds of sentiments that acted as fuel for the Holocaust are not entirely extinguished. When Carrie asks why Tipper could not be with her biological father, Buddy, a man she clearly loved, Tipper explains: “Well, Buddy was Jewish. My family didn’t want an interfaith marriage. A mixed marriage. Nowadays, no one would think much of something like that, would they? Or not many people. Attitudes have changed so fast” (138). Tipper’s relationship with Buddy, which occurred in the late 1960s and early 70s, was doomed to fail because her family harbored racist and antisemitic attitudes toward Buddy for being Jewish. Tipper articulates how her family’s antisemitism shaped her actions in choosing to marry Harris instead: “I said yes because I finally understood that I could never marry Buddy.