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Banned Books
Banned Books
On a rainy Friday afternoon, Jimmy laid in his bed when thunder struck out of the blue. He immediately thought, “Why are books banned?” He had this crazy thought because he was reading a book earlier in the day called “The Catcher in the Rye”. So he ran downstairs and asked his dad, who was sleeping, “Why are books banned?” His dad woke with a moan, rolled over and said, “Books are banned for many reasons because schools don't want students reading them.” Jimmy kept wondering how certain books are prohibited from libraries and schools. Then, he came came up with a theory, his concept was to write reasons he thought books would be forbidden to read. He came up with language, certain actions, content, and social issues.
Have you ever read a book and it has a “cuss word” in it? Well, probably because most books nowadays have “swear words” in them. According to D.H. Lawrence and Rebecca Alexander on a phone call, she says someone must file a complaint about the books offencive language. “Someone files a complaint with the library regarding a certain book. Within their complaint, they must specify what they found offensive or why they are filing the complaint.”,(“How Does a Book Get Banned? - D.H. Lawrence”). The language that they use would have to be offensive towards him/her or inappropriate. There can also be certain actions in a book that may cause some stress with other readers and adults.
In the book The Catcher in the Rye the main character, Holden Caulfield, is living every parent's worst nightmare. He has run away from his home and has dropped out of (private) school. In the book on page 4, “now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute.” Holden Caulfield has a brother named D.B. who is a prostitute and most parents would not want their kids reading this because of their young age and or how inappropriate this is and offending to others. Having this book in a library, in my opinion, would cause controversy how the words and language are presented. The content in book can have people scratching their heads like, “Why was that banned?”
A story line in any book can lead the reader in many directions. The content of a book can have a character do one thing and having the storyline inappropriate and questionable actions to others. According to a transcript on campaignfreedom.org it states that “students gave the answer that 100 years of campaign finance “reform” had forced him into:Yes. The government did have the power to ban books.” (Top 10 Books That Have Been Banned; Parnell). This shows that the government could ban books and the interviewer forced the person to say yes. The content of a book affects the way the public acts in the future with others.
A prohibited book can lead to social issues. Having a social issue with a banned book can have people arguing whether a book should be banned from schools. According to(Top 10 Books That Have Been Banned)WatchMojo.com, “famous murders have claimed inspiration after reading it.” (Top 10 Books That Have Been Banned). The quote came from watchmojo.com talking about The Catcher in the Rye and how people used the book as an excuse for a crime or murder that they have committed. This causes social issues with how people feel about the book being banned or not and why it should be.
In conclusion many people don’t see eye to eye on book banning. So after Jimmy did all of his research on book banning, he ran downstairs and said, “dad I found out why books are banned. They could be prohibited because people might find the book offencive to them, which is why books have kicked out of schools because of language. I also found that certain actions and content could affect the way people feel about books. My last thing I found out was that this murderer that killed John Lennon used the book called “The Catcher in the Rye” as an short cut. I found that out on a video I was watching. Now I finally know why books are kicked out of schools!”
Works Cited
“How Does a Book Get Banned? - D.H. Lawrence.” N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.
Parnell, Sean. “Citizens United – It’s All About the Book Banning.” Center for Competitive Politics. N.p., 10 Sept. 2009. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.
Top 10 Books That Have Been Banned. N.p., 2015. Film.
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