Josh Getzler
Last night at 9:30, our 12-year-old son, Joe, much like his parents before him, realized he hadn’t finished his homework due this morning. He was supposed to write an essay about a book he’d read which had been banned. At 10:45 (when we’d forgotten he was even awake…) he strode out of his room in t-shirt and Muppet boxers and said “I am finished. I will read to you.”
What follows here, with Joe’s permission, is his unedited essay. If it sounds like a speech it’s because he’s supposed to present it, and he has, uh, a flair for the dramatic. I think it says a mouthful.
I haven’t had too much experience with banned books. In fact, you could say I’ve played it relatively safe. I’ve read moderately light fare by authors such as Judy Blume, Andrew Clements, Beverly Cleary, and the like for most of my life. The more adult books I’ve read are mostly of the tamer quality, such as James Herriot’s “All Creatures Great and Small” and autobiographies (the naughtiest of which being ventriloquist Jeff Dunham’s “All by My Selves”, which chronicles the life of the scandalous puppeteer). I have, however, read some books that have been banned in some places, or criticized as inappropriate. Here are a few of them:
- One of the earliest banned books I remember reading-or, more to the point, being read to me-was Maurice Sendak’s “In the Night Kitchen”. I know it was banned because it is on my mother’s “I Read Banned Books” bracelet (which I am wearing in class today). The story is a surreal, though not incredibly rude, one: a little boy named Mickey floats out of bed and meets 3 chefs who desire milk for the morning cake, which Mickey finds and gives them. Even the less keen-eyed of readers will notice that when Mickey floats out of bed, his pajamas come off. And no, Sendak does not show Mickey naked without his more private parts, as others have done when drawing naked characters in usually lighter fare (case in point: Gary Larson’s “The Far Side” comic strip, which shows plenty of naked characters while leaving out the private bits). Rather, the boy’s genitals are out where anyone can see them, and thus this book has aroused controversy (as well as for the apparently phallic-looking milk bottles in the background) and was named #25 in the ALA’s 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books 1990-2000.
- Also on the “Banned Books” bracelet is Dav Pilkey’s “The Adventures of Captain Underpants”, a favorite of mine when I was younger (and confidentially, it still is). Needless to say, the title basically tips you off to why it’s been challenged: a grown man runs around wearing nothing but underwear and a curtain that serves as a cape. But you have to admit; that’s kind of its charm. I mean what else could it be? “The Adventures of Captain Undershirt”? Not as funny.
- One of the aforementioned “Frequently Challenged Books” is J.K. Rowling’s famed “Harry Potter” series, which is placed at #7. I have read all 7 of the books, “Sorcerer’s Stone” through “Deathly Hallows”, and despite their jaw-droppingly long page-span (according to Wikipedia, book #5 is 870 pages long!) they are for the most part very enjoyable. Fantastical elements of the wizardry world aside, there are few reasons for this series to be challenged. Maybe it is because of witchcraft? You know, seeing as half the cast is made up of witches and warlocks, and in #3 a wizard choir sings a musical rendition of the “Double, bubble, toil and trouble” scene from Shakespeare’s witchy…ahem, Scottish play. (#1, I am an actor, so I am refraining from saying the exact name of the play. #2, I now begin to wonder if the song is only in the movie version of #3.) It could also very well be because of the house elves, led by the character Dobby the House Elf, who delight in working and therefore work in Hogwarts’ kitchen. They wear sacks as shirts, and in book #4, Hermione Granger tries to start a petition to free them, saying they are “indentured servants”. Plus, characters use some pretty foul language in #7, most notable of which being Ms. Weasley’s cry as she defends her daughter Ginny from the evil Bellatrix Lestrange: “Not my daughter, you female dog!” (I say female dog because it is a direct meaning of the word she actually uses). So, yeah. I guess they are pretty naughty.
- Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is one I’ve read. There are many Roald Dahl books I like: “The BFG”, “Matilda”, “George’s Marvelous Medicine”, “The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me” and especially “Fantastic Mr. Fox” are all my favorites by him. I recognize “Factory” more for the 2005 Tim Burton movie, which I have seen several times (and yes, I am ashamed to admit that I have only seen the Gene Wilder original once completely.) but I have also read the book a few times, and can see its position as one of Dahl’s best. However, the first edition apparently featured the Oompa-Loompas as black pygmies, and was criticized for that reason. The copies I’ve read seem to have corrected this error, as has the 2005 movie. But it still lends a slightly dark undertone to the otherwise-rosy children’s book.
- Hugh Lofting’s “Dr. Dolittle” is one I recognized, as I read it, as a pretty controversial book. A subplot involves the African Prince Bumpo, who wishes he were white, and the doctor bleaches his face to make it so in order to gain his freedom. Good grief. That’s pretty racist. I guess it was included because in 1920, this stuff wasn’t as serious as it is today. But still…that’s nasty.
- And finally, I have finished reading the play version of George Orwell’s “1984”. Of course, you in the class are also reading it. I’m sorry for finishing it while you are still in the middle of it, but my parents insisted. I won’t spoil anything for you, but let me just say, the rest is even creepier than it is now.
So, there you have it. These are some banned books I’ve read. Which shall I read next? Well, after I finish another of James Herriot’s autobiographies; “All Things Bright and Beautiful”, I shall begin reading “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. Wish me luck!
But before I end this, there is something serious I have to talk about, and that is on the subject of banned books as a whole. The ones I have listed are only a fraction of the numerous censored, banned, and challenged books in American literature. In truth, there are many, many, many more books that have been banned in certain places due to what is perceived as inappropriate content. This is not right, for although most banned books feature content that can be perceived as prejudiced or offensive, it is still sugarcoating American literature. To pretend these books did
not feature such content would be the same as saying these prejudices did not exist, and that is sugarcoating American history. As Judy Blume put it:
“[I]t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.”
(From AFI’s page on challenged books).
So please, tell anyone you can about this travesty. It is a sad fact, but it is true, and only you can make it stop. You can make a change.
