Sunday, July 17, 2016

In Nothing But the Truth by Avi, how do the characters overcome the conflict?

In Nothing But the Truth by Avi, the conflict is resolved in a most unsatisfactory way. Each person involved has told a different "truth," and particularly because of Philip's telling, just about everyone involved ends up hurt. Philip thought he was being treated unfairly by his English teacher, Miss Narwin, so he stretches the truth in order to get out of her class. Miss Narwin is following the school rules when she sends Phil out of class for humming the National Anthem, but she doesn't do a very good job of following up. Maybe if she had called Philip's parents at the beginning, they would have gotten to the bottom of the problem and solved it right then and there. Instead, the story just keeps getting bigger. Reporters get involved and give a biased account, the School Board gets involved, and everything gets blown out of proportion.


In the end, Miss Narwin retires, leaving a job that had meant so much to her and to most of her students, Philip leaves for another school, and the school doesn't get the funding it so desperately needs. The resolution is that everyone loses. 

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