Banned and Challenged Books

Censorship within media and literature is used to hide provocative ideologies and provide strict surveillance over the content that released to the public eye. There are many reasons as to why the government and those in positions of power may wish to ban certain information from society, most often due to the nature of the subject matter. Items that are commonly censored may include any sort of political philosophies, nudity or profanity within television or music, or discriminatory topics regarding one’s race or sexuality. Regarding literature and censored novels, there are many examples of books that bring up touchy subjects and therefore may be unwanted within schools or for educational purposes. Novels that go beyond such boundaries may be considered a challenged book, which means there has been an attempt to eliminate restrict the content found within the piece of literature from school districts or neighbouring communities. As for banned books, these novels are removed completely from society and are unable to be read due to the subject matter. An example of a banned book would be Animal Farm, written by George Orwell in 1945. This novel was banned due to the rebellious behaviors exhibited throughout the story and how it represented the Soviet Union and communism before the Russian Revolution. Due to the time period and the history between the Soviets and Americans, any sort of attention brought to the communists was considered dangerous and a threat to the United States. Since the content of the book provoked a lot of thought around political standpoints, the novel was banned in communist countries around the world, such as the Soviet Union, Cuba, and China. In regards to Fahrenheit 451, it is evident that this novel is considered a challenged book, and in some cases a banned book, due to the ideologies of society that are covered throughout the story. Bradbury thoroughly explains a world with no knowledge and how having an education is illegal. It also may be seen to encourage people to rebel against the government in order to obtain certain abilities in life, such as the capacity of being literate. Another reason that is mentioned in regards to Fahrenheit 451 being challenged is that there are parts where religion (in this case, Christianity) is ridiculed or harassed with the burning of the Bible since this could mean the novel is anti-religious. On the whole, censorship is a crucial part of society that has evolved greatly throughout the years, yet it is still very much a factor of today’s world and the media that is shared with the public.

 

 

 

 

 

https://mashable.com/2018/05/17/fahrenheit-451-mashreads-podcast/

One Comment

  1. Kennedy,

    Excellent response! I enjoyed your commentary on Animal Farm, however, I am happy you found the real reason 451 was banned (bible burning).

    Thanks for sharing this on your Edublog and not only have I given you credit for the homework, but I am pleased you were able to take so much from yesterday’s lesson.

    Thank you,

    Mr. Barazzuol
    bbarazzuol@sd43.bc.ca

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