November 15, 2017
BLOGS: Use of specific words and overtones puts this once beloved classic on the final line.
The 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a classic of modern American Literature.
However, the actions of a Mississippi school to ban the novel has given birth to a new question: should To Kill a Mockingbird be banned in all schools for its racist language?
The book does indeed use uncouth terms that are considered next to evil to say or in this case, even to read.
The people that think this book should be banned for its language should simply be ignored. If they don’t like what is written, and find it offensive, then they don’t have to read it. But when these people say that “because I don’t like it, you can’t read it,” it turns into a form of repression.
Many American classics such as To Kill A Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn use vulgar language. But these books aren’t written to oppress blacks; they simply have accurate historical context.
The tyrannical idea of censoring literature you do not agree with is foolish and faulty. In the case of To Kill A Mockingbird, many agree that it should be banned. But most of these people haven’t even read the book or know what the racist term in question is.
Upon the declaration of something being racist, we are told to keep silent, to not ask questions. Dissenters of this are then branded as racist.
Instead, we are told to accept its racism and declare it wrong and irrelevant.
The use of a derogatory and racist language will be looked at as an act of tremendous evil. At times like this, the context of it will be ignored as well.
That is the problem behind the question regarding To Kill A Mockingbird? We should not be so quick to censor speech or to ban important works.
People who have read the book and understand its contribution to American literature would not want it to be banned. To Kill a Mockingbird should be appreciated, praised and read for generations to come.
