Free to read, free to think
It’s that time of the year again! It’s the week that we have all been waiting for all year. The one week that we all get excited about. The one week that… no one even knows why it’s special. Well folks, I’m here to tell you that it happens to be one of the most challenging weeks of the year. It’s the one week that die-hard English teachers live for and unenthusiastic students dread. It’s Banned Books Week!
Your first questions probably revolve around topics such as, “What is it?” or “Why is it?”. Well see, the what is answer is that once upon a time, a big group of authors got together and decided to write books that were against the grain of the standard of the time. The why portion is solely to inform people, adults and children alike, of the great works of literature that have been classified as controversial. What makes these books so revolutionary that people find them horrible? Well, let’s take a look at that now.
There are a few pertinent topics that always raise an eyebrow among the important people that decide whether books are “okay” or not. Some of the most frequent subjects include racism, sexual scenes, themes that challenge religion, and abuse. All of these ideas are thought of, even today, as sort of taboo around the country. Why though? Are the things not happening around the world? What harm does it do to allow people to read these books? What is the worst that can happen? We begin to see things from a different view and get a little smarter?
At this point, you can pretty safely assume that I am a major proponent of Banned Books Week. I personally have read many of the books on the list, from Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye to The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Did these books just absolutely thwart my morals? Am I a terrible person now that I have read some of these books? I don’t think so, but then again how do you judge? Sure, they make us think differently, but knowing and understanding the troubles in the world makes us more intelligent individuals.
So why do some people try to stop us from reading these books? Are they so scared that we might develop our own personal thoughts and beliefs on these tough situations that they would stop us from… reading? Stop us from doing the very thing they have forced us to do our entire life? How about no. I personally believe that these banned books are the books that we should find ourselves delving into. They may not be the most exciting at times, and they may leave us feeling like a battle of what’s wrong and what’s right is going on inside of us, but isn’t fighting that internal battle the importance of reading? Forming our own opinions isn’t really a bad thing guys; don’t be scared to do so. In fact, I recommend that you go to http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/censorship/bannedbooksthatshapedamerica and pick out a read for yourself! Good reading and Happy Banned Books Week everybody!
