Sahana Ganesh
Have you ever lied to yourself or someone else, to either protect them or to accomplish a purpose? Many people lie or tell the truth for many reasons such as dishonest reasons, skirting the truth, lying by omission, rule breaking and much more. In the book, Nothing but the Truth, telling the truth or lying is a big part. Many people tell lies for dishonest reasons, while many people tell the truth even if it may be hurtful. In Nothing but the Truth, these are examples of dishonest truth, broken rules, and hurtful truth.
There are many kinds of examples of characters that have been dishonest by only telling part of the truth. One character that has done that is Philip. One example …show more content…
Two characters that have done this is Dr. Doane and Mrs. Malloy. One example is when Dr. Doane does not want to show the telegrams to her as they might hurt her more. In the story it states, “ Were they addressed to me personally? Well to me and yes some to you, but--I want to see them. I don’t think--” This shows that Dr. Doane does not show her the telegrams in order to protect her. Another example that Dr. Doane has done is when Dr. Doane is telling the news on how the superintendent wants her to leave as a vacation or a long break nicely so she would not be as hurt and think of it that way. In the story it says, “ Only, as a way of getting out from the pressure. I mean all those telegram calls. You’ll be no time on your pension. You could be with your sister…” This shows that Dr. Doane wants to protect Ms. Narwin by not telling the truth because it is hurtful. Lastly, Mrs.Malloy also does not tell the truth as it is hurtful. In the story, Mrs. Malloy tries to assure Philip by lying about how Ms. Narwin won’t give him any more trouble. In the story it states that, “ Just homeroom. I have English with her. I’m sure she won’t give you any more trouble.” This shows that Mrs. Malloy lies to protect her son. In conclusion, this is why a person does not have to always tell the truth even if it will be hurtful to