Nothing But The Truth By Philip Malloy

The book, “Nothing But The Truth” by AVI follows the story of a ninth-grade student named Philip Malloy. Philip Malloy is generally a good kid who is a great runner. The story starts with Philip working out and getting ready for the track season. He has been working for months for the upcoming season until the track coach, Coach Jamison, has to talk with him. Philip is told that he has a D in his English class which is a failing grade according to their school's handbook. For this reason, Philip could not try out for the track team unless he raised his grade. This confrontation convinced Philip that his English teacher, Miss Narwin, was out to get him. So as a way to annoy her, he decided to sing along to the National Anthem during morning

At the beginning of the book, he had a strong hatred towards Miss. Narwin because of his grade in her class. He dealt with this anger by singing the National Anthem during morning announcements to mildly annoy Miss. Narwin. During the national anthem Miss. Narwin asked, “Is that someone humming? (Miss. Narwin) I don’t know who that is, but you heard Dr. Doane request silence. . . . (Miss Narwin) Is that you, Philip? . . . (Philip Malloy) Just humming. (Miss Narwin) Please stop it” (AVI 42-43). This is just one piece of evidence that shows the small ways that Philip was trying to get to Miss. Narwin. Throughout the book, this minor annoyance became a larger problem because of how big the story had become from this small repeated incident. The incident became so bad that school was unbearable for both Philip and Miss. Narwin so they both left the school. When Philip joined his new school this was one of the first things he said as he entered, “(Miss. Rooney) Class, this is Philip Malloy, who has just joined our school. Philip, you can sit right over there. We were about to begin. In fact, we usually begin by singing the national anthem. Maybe you’d like to lead us in that? Philip? Philip, what’s the matter? Why are you crying? (Philip Malloy) I don’t know the words” (AVI 212). Philip is crying because he finally realizes what he had done. He realized how he had affected Miss. Narwin

This can be shown by the biggest conflict in the book when Philip sings the national anthem. He then talks to Dr. Palleni about his actions. Dr. Palleni then says, “I guess we can reach her. I’ll call her. Last chance, Phil. (Philip Malloy) Can’t you just change- (Dr. Palleni) First things first. An apology. (Philip Malloy) Call her. (AVI 78). This shows that Multiple times Dr. Palleni gives Philip a chance to own up and apologize to Miss. Narwin for his mistakes but he can’t just swallow his pride and move; he stays very stubborn. Another example is later when the newspapers are reporting on Philip’s story and most of the time the newspapers are not getting the story right. One example is when they mention that Philip is a tenth grader, but in reality he is a ninth grader. One reporter wants to find the real truth so he asks, “(Mr. Duval) Ma’am, Miss Narwin, it seems to me, from what I’ve come to understand about you and what happened, that the original story does not make a great deal of sense” (AVI 199). Throughout “Nothing But The Truth,” the truth is twisted quite a lot from story to story. But this reporter wants to find the real, honest truth, that isn’t biased or one-sided for just Philip. This reporter wants to show Miss. Narwin’s side of the story as well and with the most honest