Truth or Lies

Truth or Lies

Marty felt very guilty about hiding Shiloh from his parents. He knew that the dog belonged to Judd Travers. He also knew his dad would make him return Shiloh to Judd if he knew Marty was hiding him in the woods behind their home.

Marty ended up telling part truths and even some lies to keep his secret about Shiloh. He explains to himself, "A lie don't seem a lie anymore when it's meant to save a dog, and right and wrong's all mixed up in my head."

Here are two examples of the many lies Marty had to tell to keep his secret:

Marty doesn't want Dara Lynn to follow him up the hill. He is afraid she will discover he has been hiding Shiloh there. He stops her with this. . . "It's got to have the longest handle and a good strong fork on the end," I say, "because that was the biggest, meanest snake I ever saw in my life." . . . "What snake?" she says. "Snake I saw up on the hill this morning'."

Another example is when Marty is trying to think of a way to get food to Shiloh. At the dinner table he says this.

"I been getting this sort of full feeling at dinner, Ma, and then I'm hungry again before I go to bed."

Ma don't even look up. "Well, don't eat so much at dinner, then, and eat again before bedtime."

"Food'll be all gone by then."

"There's always cornflakes or something."

"But I get hungry for meat and potatoes late."

"Save some back, then."

Is Marty right in telling these lies? Should he tell the truth even if this means giving Shiloh back to Judd Travers? Take our poll. Then check out the results to see what you think.