Is it Heroic to Lie?

I really liked Divergent. Strong female lead. Buff and handsome hero. Plenty of action, plot twists and an ending that left me wanting more. I'm nearly finished with the second in the series, Insurgent, and you know what? Not liking it nearly as much.

Oh, there's the same wham-bam shoot-em-up edge-of-your seat type of suspense, and the hero is still drool worthy. It's the main character, Tris, who's leaving a sour taste in my mouth. In fact, it's getting to the point that I flat out don't like her. Why? Because she lies. Not just once, but several times over. It's fine with me if villains don't tell the truth. In fact, I expect it. But how can a reader look up to a heroine who lies like a meth addict?

Answer: you can't. But that's not the only reason a lying main character is a bad idea . . .

5 Handy Dandy Reasons Your Hero Should Never Lie

1. You lose a reader's trust.
Not only does lying ruin the relationship between the main character and other characters, it causes a rift between reader and hero. Most people don't trust someone in real life who's deceitful. Why would they hand over that trust to a fictional character that's shown to lie?

2. The protagonist is a role model.
Like it or not, a hero is a role model. Readers want someone they can cheer for. Unless you're a psychopath, rooting for a liar goes against the grain of humanity. Good people don't lie. Bad ones do.

3. It's the coward's way out.
Generally one lies because it's easier than facing a particular consequence. Does that sound very heroic to you? It won't to your reader, either.

4. It corrupts the hero.
Telling lies is habit forming. If a character indulges in this form of wrong-doing, he might become more comfortable with wrong-doing in general. And that, my friends, is a trait of an antagonist, not a protagonist.

5. It feels like cheating.
When an author causes a hero to lie, the reader is cheated. Why didn't the author do the hard work of figuring out a different route to accomplish the plot twist without causing the hero to lie? Sniff, sniff. Smell that? Smells an awful lot like lazy writing.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that a hero can never lie. Maybe he does and then is torn up with grief over it, eventually admitting and owning up to the consequences. That could be workable, but again, it's going to take a LOT of work to reel that reader back in.

There's still a chance in the third book of the Divergent series that the author can redeem Tris's lying and yank me back as a fan, but it will take some fancy writerly footwork to make that happen. And honestly, why risk losing a reader in the first place?