Nothing But The Truth

“Say, ‘Please all rise and stand at respectful, silent attention for the playing of our national anthem.’” 

This quote introduces the school district’s procedure for the morning announcements. One of the central questions that Philip’s humming/singing raises is about the meaning of respect. While the school district sees silence as a way of being respectful of the national anthem, Philip’s supporters see breaking that silence by singing as respectful.

“I mean, what can you do with an English teacher who’s so uptight she must have been put together with super glue. Try to make a joke—lighten things up a bit—she goes all flinty-faced. Shift to sweet, she goes sour. I mean, people can’t have their own minds about anything!!! Talk about a free country!!!” 

This early quote demonstrates how much Philip dislikes Ms. Narwin. His reference to it being “a free country” shows that a major motivation for his dislike of her is that she represents authority, one that he dislikes.

“You have to treat them with care and fairness. Fairness is so important to them.” 

Ms. Narwin’s unease about her students is rooted in what she sees as a generational gap. The subtext of her comment is that students expect to be coddled, and their insistence on fairness is one something she struggles with as a person of an older generation, who assumes that her authority is enough to move students to obey her.

“Worst of all, like so many of them, he exhibits no desire to learn. No ambition at all! But it’s not even that I mind so much. No, it’s a certain something—a resistance—to accepting the idea that literature is important. For him or anyone! But it is. It is! If I could only convince students of that. It’s that desire that keeps me going.” 

Ms. Narwin’s inability to relate to Philip also has to do with Philip’s dislike of literature. For Ms. Narwin, one of her central roles as a teacher is to share her love of literature. Her idealistic commitment is one of the reasons that she is a good teacher, but it also handicaps her when it comes to managing a student like Philip, who is uninterested in literature.

“The trick is getting past the teacher. It’s like a race. You have to have a strategy—know when to take it easy, know when to turn on the juice. Get teachers to think you’re in control. Have to know when to kick. Like—put in one of their ideas. Or when all else fails make them laugh.” 

Philip sees life as a race with winners and losers. Philip’s idea of himself as a runner who controls the rhythm of the race presages his willingness to manipulate truth and perception in order to “win” the race over Ms. Narwin. As Philip learns later, people cannot always control how others will perceive them.

“I feel I am in need of new ideas, strategies, concepts to keep my teaching vital. The truth is—and I believe I can speak honestly to you about this—I feel that sometimes I am a little out of touch with contemporary teaching, and, just as important, the students who come before me these days. My love of literature—which has served me so well all these years—is perhaps not enough. I want to find new works and new ways to entice the young people of today.” 

As a master teacher, Ms. Narwin is well aware that she needs to continue to improve her teaching and ability to relate to a new generation of students by undergoing additional training. Dr. Seymour takes this same statement out of context in order to convince Ted Griffen that Ms. Narwin is an incompetent teacher, showing that truth is frequently a result of perception.

“An informed voter is a wise voter. Let us inform the voters with the truth.” 

One of the primary concerns of Dr. Seymour throughout the novel is securing additional funding for the school budget. In this particular passage, he tasks his teachers and administrators with presenting “truth”—in this case, that the school has a need for funds to carry out this mission. His assumption that the school and his staff have the ability to control the narrative about the schools quickly unravels because other people such as Ted Griffen are willing to manipulate what counts as truth.

“Such funds as are available for teacher support of this nature have already been allocated. In fact, the last of them just went to Kimberly Howard, the music teacher, who will be taking a summer course in Marching Band Techniques, something that will give pleasure to so many people, and, it is hoped, encourage greater attendance at athletic events. School Superintendent Seymour is very high on sports as a community bond. Need I say more?” 

This quote comes from Dr. Doane’s memo informing Ms. Narwin that there are no professional development funds available for Ms. Narwin to learn additional teaching methods. The quote highlights how stretched the budget for education is and shows that other priorities such as sports are sometimes allowed to trump improving education, which one would assume would be the primary focus of the school and its administrators. Dr. Doane’s recognition that the public face of the school is important is a pragmatic perspective that is in keeping with her role as an administrator.

“‘Phil, if there is one thing sports teaches—and I’m always saying this—all the guys will tell you—sometimes you have to go along to get along. That’s the whole thing about sports. Go with the flow.’” 

Coach Jamison encourages Philip to do what he can to make nice with Ms. Narwin in order to improve his chances of qualifying academically for track. Like many of his professional peers in education, the coach values cooperation and conforming to expectations. His advice turns out to be quite practical ,since Philip’s refusal to “go along to get along” does ultimately end his chances of running track at Harrison High.

“‘A rule is a rule. It isn’t always easy.’” 

As a coach (and likely a teacher as well), Coach Jamison represents the authority of the institution. In this quote, the coach explains to Philip that the institutional rule regarding academic eligibility is one that cannot be broken. Again, the coach’s warning turns out to be prescient: Philip’s efforts to subvert this rule all fail. The coach’s understanding of the significance of rules emphasizes that conformity to rules is one of the central values of public education.

“What would you say if a teacher said I wasn’t allowed to sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’?” 

This is the moment when Philip first begins his campaign to discredit Ms. Narwin in order to escape the consequences of his poor grade in her class. That this is a question indicates that he is still testing out the potential of such a charge to anger and excite his parents. In other words, Philip is well aware of what an emotional issue the singing of the anthem is for most people, and he is willing to trade on the emotions in order to get what he wants.

“It’s just at those moments that students rear up and challenge your authority. One has to be vigilant and firm. As well as consistent and fair. That’s the key with students these days. And sometimes I haven’t the stamina for it. Ah, well…”

Ms. Narwin bemoans the practice of switching homerooms because it brings an element of chaos into the classroom. As a teacher, one of her primary challenges is getting students to accept her authority in the classroom. The quote therefore highlights the importance of rule-following and authority in public education. Ms. Narwin’s reference to her weariness over the battle to maintain her authority presages her inability to respond effectively once that authority is challenged.

“PHILIP MALLOY: It’s a free country.

“DR. PALLENI: Nothing is free.” 

In this quote, Philip attempts to counter Dr. Palleni’s assertion that he must follow rules in the classroom by appealing to the American ideal that the country is one that is founded on freedom. Dr. Palleni’s response focuses on a different meaning of “free,” namely, that of costs and consequences. Philip fails to calculate the cost of his battle with Ms. Narwin, but the school eventually pays the actual cost for that battle because it loses the vote to approve the budget.

“‘We try to be flexible, but we still have rules. Everybody has to work together. Cooperation. If a student creates a disturbance in a classroom, that’s breaking a rule. An important rule. Students cannot break—cannot make a disturbance in a classroom. Straightforward rule infraction.’” 

Dr. Palleni articulates one of the central values of public education—students must learn to follow rules. His insistence on following rules blinds him to the potential fallout of making a student remain silent during the playing of the national anthem.

“Our society is always asking schools to do what is not done at home.” 

Ms. Narwin makes this observation in a letter to her sister and thus identifies a common complaint of educators who have grown weary of spending classroom time enforcing discipline or attempting to modify student behavior in ways that allow learning to occur. Teachers frequently take the blame for failing to teach things that that can be taught at home, rather than in the classroom.

“That’s what the board does. Keeps the schools in line.” 

Mr. Malloy explains to his Phillip that they should take his cause to Ted Griffen, a neighbor running for the school board. Mr. Malloy’s faith in Ted is grounded in his understanding of schools as part of a hierarchy that is ultimately answerable to the community as represented by an elected school board. 

“‘And I say, what is the point of installing computers—which my generation never seemed to need—and at great cost—if our young people are not allowed to practice the elemental values of American patriotism?’” 

This quote comes from one of Ted Griffen’s campaign speeches as he runs for the school board. Ted rightly calculates that Philip’s suspension is an opportunity to discredit the current school board. His appeal to patriotism as a reason to remove the current school board is founded in part on the idea that public education is designed to instill reverence for the nation. His reference to the costs of computers also indicates that he has little appreciation for the contemporary educational focus on technology and that he sees tax expenditures to support education as wasteful. This perspective is typically associated with political conservatism.

“‘Right. I’m right with you there, Steve. I mean, there are the three R’s—reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic—and the three P’s—prayer, patriotism, and parents. At least, that’s my notion of schooling.’” 

Jake Barlow, a conservative radio talk show host, also sees schools as places where more traditional values should be taught. His attack on the schools and Ms. Narwin is rooted in a conservative conception that public education and educators are undercutting traditional American values. Schools are thus one of many cultural battlegrounds on which liberals and conservatives clash.

“‘Gert, you know as well as I, it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not true. It’s what people are saying that’s important.’” 

Dr. Seymour responds to Dr. Doane’s protest that the story Ted Griffen is telling about Philip’s suspension is not true because part of the context has been left out. Dr. Seymour’ emphasizes that perception plays an important part of what people recognize as the truth. As a person who is answerable to the elected school board, Dr. Seymour makes many attempts to control the perception of the school, even when doing so involves slanting the truth.

“‘It’s a free country. But what I’m saying is that she has no right to do what she does. My husband was in the military. She’s taking away rights. Like the flag thing.’” 

This quote is from Liz, one of the callers to Jake Barlow’s show. Her perspective hinges on the idea that public displays of patriotism are among the fundamental rights of Americans. Liz’s mention of her husband’s military service also references a frequent objection to protesting during public displays of patriotism—that doing so somehow disrespects soldiers who fight to maintain freedom. Her response shows what an emotional issue protest is.

“‘Do you agree with what she did? Okay, tell her. If you disagree, tell her that. Let’s see, here’s her name, Margaret Narwin. Margaret Narwin. N–a–r–w–i–n. Harrison, New Hampshire. Let her know what you think. You agree with that guy? Just write her. Postcard. Brick. Hey, just kidding. Something. Okay!’”

Barlow essentially doxes Ms. Narwin by telling people who she is and where she teaches. He attempts to dismiss his reference to sending Ms. Narwin a message via a brick through her window as a joke, but the undercurrent here is one of violence. His partisanship and willingness to flirt with the idea of violence contribute to the lack of civility that ensues as people take sides on the conflict over Philip’s suspension.

“‘People scream if the kids are not educated. Then they scream if you ask for the money to do it.’” 

As a politician and a school superintendent, Dr. Seymour feels pressure both to fulfill the schools’ mission to educate children and to secure adequate funding to do so. Poor funding is one of the frequent complaints of educators and administrators, while the cost of educating children is one of the frequent complaints by taxpayers. Dr. Seymour’s fear of losing funding is one of the reasons he is willing to sacrifice Ms. Narwin.

“‘But did anyone—anyone outside—ever stop and notice those years of good teaching—did they write a story about that? No. That’s not what people are interested in. Do you know—I feel like I’ve been mugged. Assaulted.’”

In this quote from the interview she gives to the reporter Robert Duval, Ms. Narwin articulates a common complaint of teachers, namely, that they are unappreciated for all the good work they do. Her quote also highlights how the news and viral stories can distort the truth of a situation.