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Number the Stars, a la Shmoop. From the minute we’re born . . .

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. . . we’re hounded about telling the truth. We’re told that “honesty is the best policy”

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. . . . . . and that “the truth will set us free”.

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Sounds good . . . . . . but is there ever a time when lying

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is okay? In Number the Stars, our heroine Annemarie

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doesn’t always tell the truth. But, c’mon, cut her some slack.

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Annemarie was dealing with matters of life or death.

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So is that it? Should you be given a green light to lie if you have a really, really

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good reason? Or is it more important to tell the truth,

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no matter what? Well, some people would say that honesty is

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non-negotiable . . . . . . that trying to justify a lie for any

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reason opens up a complicated can of worms. As Mark Twain said, “If you tell the truth,

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you don’t have anything to remember.” Others would say that telling a fib once in

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a while is totally acceptable . . . . . . especially when it avoids hurt feelings

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. . . . . . or gets you out of a jam.

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Then there are the guys who think it’s okay to lie wherever and whenever you please . . .

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. . . the compulsive liars who wouldn’t know the truth if it bit them in the . . . well,

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you know. So whom should you believe?

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We have to admit, it’s a tough one. If our leaders lie . . .

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. . . and our heroes lie . . . . . . doesn’t that give us the go-ahead

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to bend the truth, too? Not necessarily.

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So, how do you know if or when it’s okay to fudge the facts?

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Since most of us will never have to face anything close to what Annemarie experienced . . .

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. . . our choices should be easier. We can value the truth above all else . . .

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. . . or come to the conclusion that honesty is highly over-rated.

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But we might have to take it case by case… and take our cues from this guy.

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Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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