Philip Malloy Nothing But The Truth

The main character, Philip Malloy, the fourteen-year-old protagonist is a talented runner and an average student who tends to says things that are irrelevant (especially when he’s in school). He releases his frustrations in homeroom and English class through small acts against his teacher, Mrs. Narwin. My opinion of Phillip Malloy is that he is a lazy jerk who, throughout the story, lies and lies, developing into a liar—but the lies eventually comes back to bite him. The reason I call him a jerk is because he shows great disrespect toward his English teacher, Ms. Narwin, purposely even though she has nothing against him. I say Phillip is lazy because he doesn’t want to do the extra work to raise his grade so he can make the track team—he decides

Nothing But the Truth is a documentary novel laying out how evidence of how one student's will to hum along with the playing of "The Star Spangled Banner" resulted in media coverage, resulting in the professional departure of a well-meaning English teacher. Phillip is unaware of the eventual consequences of his actions to himself and others. A major theme of this book is the search for complete truth while there are many versions of the same event. Readers who pick up this book will notice first the unusual format; the author, Avi, calls this book "a documentary novel." It consists of a collection of memos, excerpts from diaries and newspapers, letters, and even transcripts of speeches and radio shows. Avi lets readers make their own thoughts about what happens, but only the reader knows the entire story. Philip's peers easily figure out what really happens, and taunt him, punishing him more than anyone else at the school can. Yet putting Philip down as the only dishonest character would not be fair. Philip's parents go along with his lies to support him and look patriotic, instead of finding out what their child really needs—love, and help getting out of the situation he created. Because so few want to find the truth, the real truth, Miss Narwin loses her career and Philip loses his friends and his dream of running in track. He's finally forced to tell the truth in the devastating last line of the