“Nothing but the truth” is really a play on words on the theme of the book. In a court of law, the judge will make a witness swear on the Bible that he will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Which is not always the case. People tell little lies, exaggerate and often twist the truth, so to speak, and the end result is far from the truth. This book is about honesty, or lack thereof. Specifically, the theme is about how distorting the truth can create more problems than simply telling the truth. The first lie, or stretching of the truth, comes from Phillip, when he tells his father that no one likes Miss Narwin, that she is a bad teacher and no one does well in her classes (28). And no one understands what she teaches (29). I believe the truth is that most students like him and most do well in his class. But he doesn't do it. Perhaps if he had not said this to his father, and had simply said that he himself was who he was describing, his father might not have felt so strongly certainty that Miss Narwin was a bad teacher. Then, the first time Phillip starts humming the Star. -Spangled Banner, he tells his father that Miss Narwin is yelling at him to stop (44), omitting the fact that the announcements specifically say to be quiet. She didn't shout either, but simply spoke in a firm and strict tone. And then, when Phillip was sent to Dr. Palleni, the second time he disturbed the class with his droning, he told her he was doing it out of patriotism (51). This was completely wrong, he was obviously doing this to annoy Miss Narwin. So later when Phillip is suspended for being sent to the office twice in one week and refuses to apologize to Miss Narwin, he tells his father about it again, his father decides to talk about it middle of paper . ..... acting at school and the teacher doing her job, trying to teach in a quiet environment, everything would have gone well. A few lies, half-truths, and everything fell apart. How fragile. It ended particularly badly for Phillip and Miss Narwin. Phillip, who just wanted to join athletics and be right, ended up being hated by the entire student body. And Miss Narwin, who only wished to enlighten young minds with the joys of literature, ended up considering leaving the only thing she loved. Sure, a few people got what they wanted, but, I'm pretty sure, no one who read the story liked those people. If only they had all stuck to the truth, if only the story could have ended differently. Fewer problems, fewer elephants. If only it really was the truth, but then maybe there wouldn't have been any point in writing this story..