Why Is The Great Gatsby Banned

Books can create portals to different life experiences and encourage reading. A few schools and libraries have challenged the educational value of some books, however, therefore leading them to eventually be prohibited in a particular place. Each reason may be different depending on the book and the location of the exclusions. Books are icons of literature and their value should outshine the occasionally offensive topic. Be that as it may, there are multiple reasons why books should be taught and included in a curriculum.

Why is To Kill a Mockingbird banned? Many people have come to realize that the award winning To Kill a Mockingbird was banned and challenged countless times. Although there are several offensive scenes in the book, very many people are outraged that their child cannot read this award winning novel. The question is, why is this novel banned?

It also undermines democratic citizenship and stirs up nationalism and jingoism, which results in harm to citizens of other countries. Even worse than political discourse, according to Kateb, is religious speech; he claims that a lot of religious speech is hateful, useless, dishonest, and foments war, bigotry and fundamentalism. It also creates bad self-image and feelings of guilt that can haunt persons throughout their lives. Pornography and hate speech, he claims, cause nowhere near as much harm as political and religious speech. His conclusion is that we do not want to ban these forms of speech and the harm principle, therefore, casts its net too far.

According to the article “The First Amendment: Censorship,” speech is routinely censored due to bias, or personal issues with the content (First Amendment, 3). Also, in the article “Censorship Goes to School,” Nancy Day discusses how advocates for removing “hurtful and dangerous” books believe that they are protecting children, and that is more important than access to free speech (Day, 4). Because integrity in education is important, teachers should stay within the bounds and follow the requirements of education (First Amendment, 2). Author Zibby O’Neal said “We try to teach young people the first amendment rights, but then deny them a book” about repeated efforts to ban The Chocolate War (Day, 3). You would think the people who educate would be open minded, they are actually the most critical (Censorship, 2).

Chapter 4: Madonna’s most controversial video: “Like a Prayer” One might consider it a dangerous thing to address God especially in a popular cultural context, but artists tend to make an effort to push the boundaries of religious themes. Madonna did the same thing and invited the protest of the Christian community. (Doyle, 2008) Like a Prayer, a religious-themed video was banned by the American Family Association and a fundamentalist religious group as they protested that it was offensive. (Doyle, 2008) At the same time, the Vatican also censured it and many people also rejected the video because of the inappropriate sexuality and the blasphemy.

For instance, one reader who is age 6 or 7 may read at the level of a 9 or 10 year old, it all depends on the child. Age banding therefore creates a “betrayal of trust between the reader and the author” (130). Age banding can also “disregard the creativity of authors” (130). The age bans are “harmful to children’s enjoyment of reading,” as children may not appreciate or pick up a book that is targeted for a younger age group than their own. The same goes for young readers who are confident and may be “put off by books that fit their ability” rather than their age (130).

The abolishment of book censorship must happen to protect

The Bible, the best known Christian book, speaks of slavery, polygamy, sexism, and murder. It could be said that those are also Christian values. Children in Christian schools are exposed to that, so why shouldn’t they learn about/be exposed to other wrong behaviors, to at least think critically of them? Christian school boards should think this over before deciding to proceed further with book

In an excerpt from her book, Unprotected Texts, Jennifer Wright Kunst discusses the Bible’s contradicting views of sexual intimacy and desire. There is something so incredibly taboo when it comes to sex and religion. Often teenagers are instilled with the fear of God in an effort to abstain them from having sex. The responsibility then falls on the girls since boys apparently do not possess the wherewithal to control their sexual urges. To be honest, I find this notion rather appalling and downright offensive.

Censors may say that it only teaches kids bad things and will give them the wrong idea. However, the “bad things” in the book can be used as examples of what not to do, so it turns into a good lesson for middle schoolers. And, the story has a good moral so no one should keep that from middle schoolers. According to Allison McDonald on scholastic.com, “Censorship is not protecting your children; rather, it's merely a way to avoid lessons you could be teaching them no matter what your beliefs may be. Instead, read these books with your kids and explain why you agree or disagree with the content.

Although classic novels tend to be the most memorable and most recognized they too can be challenged or worst case scenario banned. For instance, the classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” has been challenged and banned from a numerous number of school districts. On the account of, bad-language, references to rape, racial discrimination, and violence against children. Throughout the novel, unmannerly language is used being a reason why some districts have banned such a great classic. It uses words such as “nigger” and “damn” which are not just unmannerly words, but also offensive words that many find offensive.

For example, “some students have called for warnings that Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart describes racial violence and that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby portrays misogyny and physical abuse, so that students who have been previously victimized by racism or domestic violence can choose to avoid these works, which they believe might “trigger” a recurrence of past trauma.” (Lukianoff & Haid 2015) This method of protecting feelings can be crippling and isn’t always

The Great Gatsby highlights the main problematic peaks of the 1920s, emphasising how combatants from the war try relive the years they have lost and the silent feud between those of new money and those of old money. Fitzgerald creates a paradox view of the story by capturing the essence of two completely different personalities and building characters upon them. The result of this paradox was the creation of conflict between the main character Jay Gatsby and the antagonist, Tom Buchanan. Jay Gats or as we know him, Jay Gatsby is a perfect example of an idealist, optimist and a fantasist. He can be perceived as the embodiment of an over the top romance or a creepy, stalker who devotes his life dwelling on the past.