No More Dead Dogs

No More Dead Dogs centers around the idea that telling the truth is superior to lying. For Wallace, honesty “wasn’t just the best policy; it was the only one” (2), and if other characters in the story took this approach, many struggles could have been easily avoided. Through Wallace telling the truth, the school newspaper, and Trudi’s attitude toward herself, No More Dead Dogs shows how honesty is the best approach.

Throughout most of the book, Wallace tells the truth, at least as he understands it. His candor endears people to him because they know what to expect, even if it isn’t always what they want to hear, and Wallace feels at peace with himself because he knows he’s speaking his true feelings. Wallace tells only one lie throughout the entire book—at the end when he can’t bring himself to tell Rachel that Dylan attacked the play. Wallace lied here to protect Rachel’s feelings, but her feelings ended up getting hurt anyway. If he’d told the truth, then Rachel would have hurt feelings and the true culprit’s identity. By lying, Wallace hurts her twice—once when she thinks Wallace really did betray the play and again when she learns it was her brother.