Summary Of Philip Malloy's 'The National Anthem'

¨if a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.¨-Thomas Jefferson. In the book ¨Nothing But The Truth¨ by Avi, a ninth grader Philip Malloy was suspended for humming the National Anthem in his English class. Margaret Narwin, his English teacher, told him several times to stop, which he eventually did. Was being suspended for humming The National Anthem that necessary? Or were his rights violated? After reading this book, I´ve decided that Philip´s rights were violated.
The protagonist, Philip Malloy, in the book had a hatred feeling towards his English teacher, Mrs. Narwin.On page 41, Philip says, “I can’t stand her” and before, on page 24, Philip was going through his term grades and saw that his lowest grade was a D in English. Although, it’s still ok to not like a teacher, according to the 1st amendment. Philip was also kinda grumpy and furious. When Philip made that D in his English class, he couldn’t be able to join the track team because of his percentage. Philip carried the fact that he was wrathful and didn’t listen to Mrs. Narwin in the first place because of his grumpy mood and his hatred feelings towards Mrs. Narwin.

In book Philip was humming to The National Anthem. Even though, Philip was supposed to be quiet, he still has a right to represent his country that he lives in. Similar to one of the court cases , The Tinker Standard, three other students wore black armbands to protest against the Vietnam War, similar to Philip, they both have the right of freedom of speech to do so. When Philip was buzzing to The National Anthem, no other students were distracted by that at all, like The Tinker Standard. Another example, was on page 174, when Philip said, “It’s a free country.” The U.S. is a democracy, so it’s true that it’s a free country. Why can’t Philip represents his country by humming The National