Censorship. One could find positive aspects in censoring media and literature. It could be argued that certain material is inappropriate and offensive, and should therefore be limited or withdrawn completely. Well. This is one way of thinking.
In the democratic United States, the idea of freedom has been ingrained into the minds of children as young as first grade. Be proud. Be patriotic. To be an American is to have freedom. If literature is taken away, so is a part of this freedom. Freedom of press. Freedom of speech. These are two components of the First Amendment. It is for this reason that censorship is a horrible attempt to lure others into close-mindedness. I imagine that the Dark People of Censorship sit in their robust armchairs and velvet bathrobes, stroking a hideous cat, bearing the devilish grin of He Who Shall Not Be Named. No- not Voldemort. It is the thinking of ignorant bastards, and the lies that are passed onto children, that lead to book banning. It will not harm a child to think for his/her self. I promise. Then again, the Dark People of Censorship would never buy that crap. I'm sorry. I may have offended someone. Wait- never mind.
In Fahrenheit 451, it was not a small collective that was banning books. It was not an apprehensive school board, a parent concerned about a child's morals, or a mean librarian. It was far worse. In fact, there was an occupation devoted to ridding the society of the abomination of books. Guy Montag was born into this society to burn books, born to follow the charcoal smothered path of his father, who was also a fireman. It was because of the sparse supply of books that Montag and many others accepted this life. There was no need to question it. No one knew what was in books. It was...disgusting, that's what!
It was hearsay, that's all.
Recently, in Chareleston, West Virginia, two books by Pat Conroy have been banned. In his Letter to the Editor, published in the Charleston Gazette, he expresses his contempt for these banners. He said, "The world of literature has everything in it, and it refuses to leave anything out." This is exactly why books are a magnificent. There are books on every such topic. Some speak loudly, remaining in the mind 20 years later. Some are painful. Some are uplifting. Why should one be banned over the other?
Montag had books at the tips of his gloves and his curiosity began to ignite. He grabbed a book in a burning house, which he blamed solely on his hands. He was unable, at that point, to understand his subconscious desire for finding meaning in life.
In Montag's society, burning books was done to promote ignorance. It was a way to make everyone equal. No one would have more knowledge than another person. There would be a great sameness.
Is this what is wanted for our society? Should each person possess the same level of cognition? This idea is ridiculous. The world prospers through learning. By destroying books, destroying an outlet of knowledge, nothing is gained.
In the democratic United States, the idea of freedom has been ingrained into the minds of children as young as first grade. Be proud. Be patriotic. To be an American is to have freedom. If literature is taken away, so is a part of this freedom. Freedom of press. Freedom of speech. These are two components of the First Amendment. It is for this reason that censorship is a horrible attempt to lure others into close-mindedness. I imagine that the Dark People of Censorship sit in their robust armchairs and velvet bathrobes, stroking a hideous cat, bearing the devilish grin of He Who Shall Not Be Named. No- not Voldemort. It is the thinking of ignorant bastards, and the lies that are passed onto children, that lead to book banning. It will not harm a child to think for his/her self. I promise. Then again, the Dark People of Censorship would never buy that crap. I'm sorry. I may have offended someone. Wait- never mind.
In Fahrenheit 451, it was not a small collective that was banning books. It was not an apprehensive school board, a parent concerned about a child's morals, or a mean librarian. It was far worse. In fact, there was an occupation devoted to ridding the society of the abomination of books. Guy Montag was born into this society to burn books, born to follow the charcoal smothered path of his father, who was also a fireman. It was because of the sparse supply of books that Montag and many others accepted this life. There was no need to question it. No one knew what was in books. It was...disgusting, that's what!
It was hearsay, that's all.
Recently, in Chareleston, West Virginia, two books by Pat Conroy have been banned. In his Letter to the Editor, published in the Charleston Gazette, he expresses his contempt for these banners. He said, "The world of literature has everything in it, and it refuses to leave anything out." This is exactly why books are a magnificent. There are books on every such topic. Some speak loudly, remaining in the mind 20 years later. Some are painful. Some are uplifting. Why should one be banned over the other?
Montag had books at the tips of his gloves and his curiosity began to ignite. He grabbed a book in a burning house, which he blamed solely on his hands. He was unable, at that point, to understand his subconscious desire for finding meaning in life.
In Montag's society, burning books was done to promote ignorance. It was a way to make everyone equal. No one would have more knowledge than another person. There would be a great sameness.
Is this what is wanted for our society? Should each person possess the same level of cognition? This idea is ridiculous. The world prospers through learning. By destroying books, destroying an outlet of knowledge, nothing is gained.
3 comments:
I thought that the examples of censorship in our society were interesting because in many ways, our lives are censored, and it would not be that farfetched to one day live in a society like the one in the novel. They make censored versions of movies. They Edit words out of TV broadcasts, and they ban books. It is not like this is anything new either; just look at the propaganda put out by the U.S. government during WWII. Many Americans had very little knowledge of what was happening in Europe. Our society is full of censorship.
I think that you make some very good points about censorship and its role in our modern day society. "Live" television events have a five minute playback so that, if anything offensive or rude were to occur, it could quickly be cut out. Books are banned because school districts do not want to send their children's parents up in arms. It's all to avoid making people unhappy, and yet, in a sense, it is making us more and more ignorant. Maybe our society is taking the cliche "ignorance is bliss" a little too far.
Please censor your language on this post. Don't you love the irony?
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