The first banned book in the world was located in America and was called New English Canaan or New Canaan. This book was banned for theological reasons, political and cultural history of the United States. By studying banned books throughout the world it is possible to examine the history of books, the literary works of Huckleberry Finn, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Diary of Anne Frank, And Tango Makes Three, Chocolate War and Freedom of Speech in America.
The earliest book known originated from the ancient Egyptians. Egyptians used metal, leather, clay, stone, and bone to write on before papyrus. Papyrus is a water plant that the Egyptians formed into scrolls. The scrolls were 30 feet long and 7-10 inches wide. The longest scroll ever found was 133 feet long. “Many ancient civilizations housed their scrolls in large libraries, which acted as both repositories of knowledge and displays of political and economic power”. The ancient Egyptians had power over countries because papyrus grew in Egypt.
Egyptians developed a reed pen, the pen is made out of the reed plant and sculpted to a sharp point to where you could write. China formed a new type of paper called parchment. Parchment was a flexible piece of paper made out of thin slices of animal hide. Both sides of the paper could be written on and was more durable and cheaper than papyrus. Romans bonded together parchment and papyrus with a wooden cover, which brings the look of the book today. China invented block printing, instead of writing they would carve a page of text and place ink to stamp 1 page of writing. Medieval Europe was still handwriting scribes, they did not use the block printing until 1500 BCE while China started in 700 BCE.
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An old book that people still read to this day Huckleberry Finn is challenged throughout the world. Huckleberry Finn was written in 1883 by Mark Twain and challenged in the same year. Huckleberry Finn is about Huck and his friend Jim, Jim is a runaway slave, that has a wife and children. Jim is running because they are transporting him somewhere else, away from his family. Huck goes with Jim to Ohio to gain freedom. In March 1883 people already started calling it “trash” and “only suitable for the slums”, they challenged this book because of the racial slurs and it “conflicted with the values of the community”.
A former Harvard professor and a Twain scholar Jocelyn Chadwick said that “the story is banned because it is not in a place in time where Americans want to talk about racism and a substantive conversation” and “early challenges in Huckleberry Finn came from white people, library’s did not like the language usage used”. Mark Twain portrayed the caucasian people as violent, stupid, or selfish. Jocelyn Chadwick also made the point of “The most recent and most sustained argument against Mark Twain is, how can a white man write about racism? He has no right to write about something that did not affect him.”
To me, that argument is specious. If you’re telling Twain that white men or women cannot write about people of color, are you saying that black writers should not write about white characters? You can’t shut one door without shutting the other”. Parents see it as racial and students see it as a lesson of what the 19th century was like. Huckleberry Finn was ranked 14 out of 100 on the Top 100 Banned/ Challenged Books. This is one of the most controversial novels for schools because of it promoting racism.
The most favored book of childhood memories, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, written in 1997 by J.K. Rowling, ranked 47 out of 100 on the challenged list. To begin, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone begins with Harry living with his aunt and his uncle and their son Dudley. Dudley wants to go to the zoo for his birthday. Harry encounters a snake and is able to talk to the snake and remove him from the cage to let him return to Brazil. Hagrid shows up at Harry’s house on his birthday to deliver the letter that he was accepted to the school of Hogwarts, the school of magic. Harry travels to Hogwarts where he goes to practice magic. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was challenged in 2005 due to promoting of witchcraft and religious reasons. Other views believe that it gives imagination and promotes bravery and loyalty.
The WWII novel that is taught throughout schools and ranked one of the best diaries of all time, The Diary of Anne Frank, challenged for her own life experiences. Diary of Anne Frank was written in 1947 by Anne Frank this was during WWII. Her diary begins with her 13th birthday, Anne Frank received many presents but the best one was her diary. A month later Margot Frank received a letter to work in Germany. Her father tells her that they will have to go into hiding to avoid being sent to concentration camps. The Franks housed with another family, the Van Daans.
They 2 families could only listen to the radio at night when everyone below has gone home but, they were afraid that someone will break in and catch them. A new regulation from the Nazi government consisted of all radios are to be handed in. Anne starts to like the Van Daans son Peter so much that she starts to fall in love with him. Her last entry was on August 1, 1944, the Nazi police send the family to concentration camps. Her diary is still read today and gives a real vision of what times were like during this period. The Diary of Anne Frank was challenged because Anne Frank explained her puberty during her time in hiding, she starts liking boys and parents viewed this as “it was sexually offensive to puberty and the experience of puberty”.
Parents complained that it possessed homosexual themes and was pornographic in her thoughts of Peter. Amazon and the American Literary Association said it was one of the most challenged books. Many schools bought the unedited version where it was vivid on puberty and her thoughts about Peter throughout the book. On the 50th anniversary Otto Van Frank put the paragraphs he took out about Anne’s vivid thoughts, back in.
And Tango Makes Three a children’s picture book written in 2005 and by Justin Richardson challenged shortly after published. And Tango Makes Three is a true story about 2 male penguins creating a non-traditional family. Roy and Silo live at the Central Park Zoo. The penguins were different than other penguin population but, their family desires were the same. The 2 penguins raise a baby penguin for themselves. This children’s picture book was challenged for homosexual themes. Parents requested for the book to be put in the alternative section or a non-traditional section of the library. Singapore, located in Asia was going to have all the books of And Tango Makes Three destroyed. They turned around and said that they would put the books in the adult section where adults could check out the book for their children. The positive argument is that it shows the diversity of people you are going to have to deal with different type of people.
The Chocolate War was written in 1974 by Robert Cormier was challenged in 1974. The Chocolate War is about Jerry Renault and the gangs. Leon, a sadistic teacher who bullies kids ordered 2 times the chocolate than he did last year. Archie, a villain, and the Vigils, another villain has to make sure the chocolates get sold, Archie is reluctant but agrees to help sell. Jerry the protagonist, receives a note on his locker telling him to meet the Vigils at their secret hideout, a supply closet behind the gym. Leon using roll call to have kids commit to buying chocolate called on Jerry and he refuses to buy chocolates.
The Vigils made him refuse to buy the chocolate. When Jerry is supposed to yes to the chocolates he says no again. Jerry is trying to stand up to both Leon and the Vigils. Leon tells Archie and the Vigils to do whatever it takes to get the chocolates sold and if they don’t, they will be destroyed. Jerry gets attacked by 10 other people while walking from the football field to the school for refusing to buy the chocolates. All the chocolates get sold except the 50 Jerry was supposed to sell. Jerry and Archie both come up with a plan of revenge for the people that attacked him. They are going to fight but, everything goes south when they only get a few punches in and the lights on the football field go black. This book was challenged due to drug abuse, pornographic, sexual encounters, and violence. The Harford County school district in Maryland removed the book for overshadowing of an anti-bully message.
Many school districts around the world made it have parental permission to read. The book was made PG-13 around the world because of all the violence and sexual encounters in the book. In the book, there are many examples of peer pressure and parents saw that as a positive side because it gave their children examples of what kids will do to look cool. Another positive point is “Ever since it was first published in 1974, Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War (along with its sequel) has been consistently challenged and criticized by schools, libraries, and parents for its language, sexual content, violence, and bleak message. At the same time, the book was cited as the “Best Young Adult Book” at the 1975 National Council of English Teachers convention”. Many people like this book, it is a personal preference of what you want your child to read.
Freedom of speech is a fundamental right. Freedom of speech is the first amendment and was passed in 1791. The amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The amendment allows society to speak, publish, read and view the banning of books violates the amendment. Public schools and libraries have been suffering legal battles for the access to books and derogatory material. Many of the restrictions come from the public.
Buy, a private and government establishment is different by “the First Amendment’s constitutional right of free speech, which is also applied to the states, only prevents government restrictions on speech, not restrictions imposed by private individuals or businesses. Mark Zuckerberg can restrict speech on Facebook because it is a private business and he is not the government”. One of the most important court cases called The Pico concerning school libraries and the First Amendment. The court recognized the rights of students and the First Amendment are “directly and sharply implicated” when a book was removed from the school library.
