Banned Books Week, a week-long event hosted by UTM, is dedicated to the freedom of reading controversial books and drawing attention to the dangers of censorship and will run through Sept. 23-28.
Banned books are books that have been removed from libraries, bookstores and classrooms because of controversial content. However, before a book is banned, it is challenged by individuals or groups that find the content inappropriate.
Many of the books on high school summer reading lists or even books used in English classes have been banned at some point in time based on content that is deemed as unsuitable for certain age groups or content that touches on controversial matters, such as racism and religious viewpoints.
As a book-lover, I am intrigued when I hear that a book is being challenged or has been banned at some point in time. Some of my favorite challenged and banned books include: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.
I was first introduced to To Kill a Mockingbird when I was in the eighth grade. It was one of my mother’s favorites and soon became one of mine. I fell in love with Scout (Jean Louise), Jem, Atticus, Calpurnia and even Boo Radley. Along with my sisters, I listened to our mother tell the story of the adventures of young Jean Louise and her brother Jem in Maycomb, Alabama in 1933.
In the book, Scout’s father, Atticus, defends an African American man who was accused of raping a young Caucasian woman and was wrongfully convicted. Because of the time period in which the book is set, racial tensions are very high among the town residents, which is made especially clear when looking at the trial scenes.
To Kill a Mockingbird has been banned from many libraries due to offensive language, racism and other unsuitable content for certain age groups, according to the American Library Association.
To Kill a Mockingbird was written in 1960, four years before the Civil Rights Act was enacted. This book openly shows how racism affected a small town in the 1930s, and how racism is learned and carried on throughout generations. This is evident in Scout’s confusion regarding the trial and people’s attitudes toward her father because he is defending an African American man to the best of his ability.
I believe that it is a must read because of the underlying message that people should not be judged on the ideas others have about them, but by who they truly are as individuals.
During my sophomore and junior years of high school, I became even more obsessed with books than I already was. I was reading books back-to-back and starting different books before I could even finish another, because I wanted to be a part of all of these different worlds.
It was during this time that I discovered the next three of my favorite banned and challenged books.
I received Flowers for Algernon for Christmas in 2016. I have re-read that book more times than I can count.
The story is told by the character Charlie Gordon, a 32-year-old man with mental disabilities. Charlie is selected by a team of scientists to undergo an experimental surgery that will increase his intelligence.
The story follows Charlie as his intelligence increases and he begins to discover new things about the world and himself, including mature feelings he has never experienced and learned to handle.
Flowers for Algernon has been banned due to sexually implicit scenes and language. Compared to other reasons for books being banned, these are rather mundane. The book itself is enlightening and leaves the reader in tears for days.
The next book, A Brave New World, is a novel about a society that focuses solely on science and efficiency. Individuality and emotions are conditioned out of children at a young age.
This book had been banned due to insensitivity, nudity, racism, religious viewpoints and sexually explicit content. At face value the book seems incredibly insensitive.
However, it depicts how a perfect society in which everyone is always happy, or is drugged to be happy, has lost its humanity and members have lost control of their personal lives.
Finally, the last book on my favorite banned books list is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. This book follows two women that live in Afghanistan during the 1960s to early 2000s who married the same abusive man because they had no other options.
A Thousand Splendid Suns had been challenged because it contains violence and abuse against women. Although this is true of the book, it contains a look into the culture of Afghanistan and the issues its citizens faced during this time period. It is eye-opening, especially for readers who have never traveled outside of the country or read books based outside of the United States.
Censorship creates a blind eye for ideas as well what is happening or has happened in the world. Censorship only sees books at face value, rather than reading into the intended meanings of the books.
Banned Books Week serves as a means to draw attention to the effects of censorship on society.
Photo Credit / Harper Lee
