The Truth In Philip Malloy's Nothing But The Truth

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In Nothing But The Truth, Philip Malloy received suspension after being removed from class for "singing" the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, during the morning announcements. Throughout the story of Nothing But The Truth, the media supports Philip more than the school district, but if the "truth" turned into a court case, who would be successful, Philip Malloy v. Harrison School District?

Philip Malloy would be effective in taking the court case because he was not trying to cause a disturbance in Ms. Narwin's homeroom class. In the novel, Philip states“ Yeah. Right. Hum. No big deal. But this teacher, she got real mad and started to yell at me to stop ( Avi 53).” Philip's quote strongly supports my claim of him being successful in the court case because he was not causing an interruption during learning hours but making an effort to be patriotic because even though the memo at the beginning of the novel utters to remain silent during the national …show more content…

Narwin limited his rights of speech. In Nothing But The Truth, Philip's father explains that not having the right to sing the national anthem is compared to not being allowed to pray, "But not being allowed to sing the “Star Spangled Banner”... Well ,that’s like, sort of, not being allowed to, you know pray… (Avi 58)”. Furthermore, Philip explains to the assistant principal, Mr. Palleni about his try in patriotism but his teacher, Ms. Narwin, refuses for him to have that right, “Yeah, well, it’s sort of a...patriotic thing with me. But the whole thing is, she always had it in me (Avi 62)... She is against me being patriotic (Avi 74)”. Likewise, the school limits First Amendment rights such as the free speech, “ How can you ask someone to not sing “The Star-Spangled Banner”?...It’s the rule (Avi 68)” The school asks students to remain silent during the recording of the national