One Woman s View: Ideas need breathing space
Contributing writer
This is banned books week; take in the displays at your local library. This event is an annual opportunity for libraries to remind us of the importance of academic freedom. Ah, yes! Academic freedom — one of those ideals we all uphold enthusiastically in the abstract, yet we sometimes are all too willing to see it undermined in individual instances.
In spite of a long tradition in the United States of the free exchange of ideas, we still have our share of self-appointed censors who want to decide what the rest of us can read. Some are simply well-intentioned individuals with a concern about the impact of "dangerous" ideas on impressionable minds. Other book-banning efforts are orchestrated by organizations of fundamentalist Christians, white supremacists, black power advocates, and political groups from both the far right and far left.
Of course, there is a fine line between censorship and book selection. All library patrons want the librarians to choose books of the best quality. Naturally I think I know which those are, and you think you do. Most of us would not like to see a large collection of pornographic material. On the whole, I believe the librarians with their specialized training are the most qualified people to make judgments on selection. If you do have concerns about certain books, they will probably be more than willing to listen.
Kathy Fish at Hillsboro Public Library furnished me with a copy of a list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of the 1990s. "Challenged" simply means that someone somewhere has tried to get the book removed from library shelves. Many books on the list I have not read. Unlike some of the eager censors in our midst, I don't feel I can comment on those. Of those I have read, some are recognized classics, and others are well-crafted books I have enjoyed a great deal. Valid reasons to ban them escape me.
One book which seems to stir opposition decade after decade is Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Most literary scholars (rightfully, I believe) consider it one of the greatest of American novels. I'm not sure why it puts people's backs up.
Some puritanical types probably consider the hero too crude and unrefined to be a role model for children. After all, he chews tobacco, plays hooky, and seldom bathes. Others may casually flip the pages and see language that is slangy and ungrammatical, occasionally even profane. I think most of the opposition comes from African-Americans objecting to the frequent use of the "N" word. However, if you actually read the book, all these issues are put in perspective. Huck is a product of his times in a harsh environment. His superficial lifestyle is not held up as a model, but his moral development well could be. The theme is the young protagonist's struggle between the standards of his society and the demands of his own emerging conscience, as he comes to see the slave Jim as an admirable and lovable human being. The language notwithstanding it attacks racism, rather than encouraging it.
"A Light in the Attic," a book of children's poems by Shel Silverstein, mysteriously made the list. I know of no better writer to lead children into the joys of poetry than Silverstein. His work is humorous, refreshing, and thought-provoking. I can see no ground for a negative view of him, but a few years ago a librarian told me somebody objected to an illustration in the book, a cartoon-style drawing of a person with no clothes which accompanied a whimsical poem about a bee sting. The most perverted of minds could find nothing prurient in it. If you don't believe me, go to the library and look it up.
Also challenged were two books for the middle school crowd by Katherine Paterson, "Bridge to Terabithia" and "The Great Gilly Hopkins." Both are, in my opinion, beautiful books for young people. In the first, the protagonist must face the death of a close friend. The second deals with Gilly's struggles with the foster care system. Perhaps those wanting to ban them feel children should never be expected to think about difficult problems. Yet many children are called on to deal with such hardships, and those who aren't need to understand the problems of their friends and classmates.
The high literary quality of the books with which I am familiar tempt me to use the challenged list as recommended reading. Even if you disagree and fear the corrupting influences of books, here is something to think about. Historically, whenever and wherever tyranny and totalitarianism have reared their ugly heads, the first thing the despots have done is burn books.
