Devious Truths

This essay invokes one of Dickinson's better-known programmatic statements, "Tell all the truth but tell it slant - " (Fr1263), to explore the narratological and antinarratological aspects of truth-telling. The exploration is further pursued through a reading of the poem "Tell as a Marksman - were forgotten" (Fr1148) based on the story of William Tell. Incorporating an acknowledgement that there are different kinds of truth, Tell's story helps to explain why Dickinson celebrates both circuitous speech and the utter straightforwardness of a cry. Further, Dickinson's manner of retelling Tell's story helps to explain why circuitous speech must be conceived of as a broad category encompassing even the didacticism of her friend J. G. Holland. Holland's moralizing essays, often criticized for their banality, bear comparison with Dickinson's pedagogical manner in "Tell as a marksman," and provide an apposite model for the slant speech of "Tell all the truth."