Today we discussed the impact books can have on society;
they have true shaping abilities. We touched on the topic of censorship too. I was fascinated by the sort of stamp of approval
provided by the censor in the book involving Herodotus. As soon as I saw the
markings in the preface, I associated it with what I had seen before in Huckleberry
Finn. Junior year we read Huck Finn in class and our copies provided by the
school were all marked up. In a way, this brought more attention to what was
being blotted out! What is your experience with censorship? Did your high
school have certain banned books? Where the line should be drawn?
On a semi-related note:
This weekend I went home, and it just so happened to be the weekend of our local “Friends of the Library Book Sale.” This is an annual sale of thousands of used books. Looking back, I could easily say that it has been an influential piece in the development of my love for books. I can recall from years past spending hours there with my family exploring the books. Being there this Saturday was even more fulfilling. I was able to look at the collections of books with a view shaped by my learning in Cushing. Seeing as these were used books, I noticed details of previous owners and various other features we have discussed in class. I am just certain among all those books were hidden gems waiting to be revealed!
This weekend I went home, and it just so happened to be the weekend of our local “Friends of the Library Book Sale.” This is an annual sale of thousands of used books. Looking back, I could easily say that it has been an influential piece in the development of my love for books. I can recall from years past spending hours there with my family exploring the books. Being there this Saturday was even more fulfilling. I was able to look at the collections of books with a view shaped by my learning in Cushing. Seeing as these were used books, I noticed details of previous owners and various other features we have discussed in class. I am just certain among all those books were hidden gems waiting to be revealed!
Censorship is such a fascinating thing; the fact that people believe that books can be so dangerous astounds me. There are so many people that take books and the messages they send for granted, when in reality, books connect us to a vast variety of information and ideas. Censorship may seem a bit strange to us; we live in the United States, a place where our rights to read and hear anything we want are endowed and taken for granted. But for many other people, even in the world today, this is not the case. They may not read certain books, even if the books seem harmless to us. Just like in the book Fahrenheit 451, where all books were banned and burned. If censorship became that rigid in society, I think there would be serious trouble to contend with. Luckily, nothing of that magnitude has occurred, and hopefully it never will!
ReplyDeleteI think the good thing is, nothing in this day and age can ever truly be censored out: there's too much information on public domain, and the thousands of books that are currently out. I think that if someone really wanted to censor something so widely like they did in Fahrenheit 451, it would be met with a lot of resistance, people hiding away books or saving the originals on computers. Instead, censorship that's already happened can be looked at as a study in social understandings: what the public thought was acceptable or not, and how it can be compared to today's social understandings.
ReplyDelete