Forbidden Knowledge

Book Bans Limit Knowledge and New Perspectives for Readers

BY AMBER SIMPKINS Staff Writer

Book banning has happened throughout history, but it is starting to appear more frequently in the news. Book banning happens when groups such as the government, various organizations, or school officials remove books from public libraries, school libraries, and bookstores due to the content of the books. People who decide to ban the book believe it is too controversial or disagree with its messages or themes. Political agendas are mainly to blame for book banning.

Unfortunately, the act of book banning limits the perspectives readers can have. Although some of the ideas may be deemed controversial to talk about in everyday society, those ideas in the banned books can still open the reader’s mind to a whole new perspective on life that they may have never faced. Having access to new life perspectives gives readers more to think about and lets them open their minds more to think for themselves.

Books get banned for many reasons, but as mentioned earlier, many are due to political agendas. The people that decide to ban books often ban them because the books go against their political agenda, which is very biased and limiting for readers. Books prohibited for political reasons are because they have a theme of questioning the government, authority, and how things are run. Another popular theme of banned books is telling a story from the perspective of a minority, such as someone who is an ethnic/racial minority or LGBTQ. Some books also contain themes of women’s struggles that often get banned. Another reason why some books get banned is due to religious reasons. For example, books such as the Harry Potter series have been banned in some places because of the themes of magic and sorcery.

Now, let us look at some examples of popular and recently banned books. One of the most popular banned books is 1984 by George Orwell. The book was banned for explicit content and supposedly being “pro-communist” even though the book was very anti-Soviet Union. 1984 was banned in the Soviet Union as well. Another book that has been popularly banned Maus by Art Spiegelman, which tells a story through the eyes of a Holocaust survivor. It was forbidden for nudity and profanity, despite the characters being portrayed as animals. Unfortunately, this ban censors an important part of history to learn. A recently banned book is The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, which explores the topics of police brutality and racism. Unfortunately, some libraries have banned the book due to profanity and claims of an anti-police message. Another recent book that has faced banning is All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, which talks about the experience from the perspective of a boy that is LGBTQ but was banned from some libraries due to LGBTQ content.

It is unfortunate that these books have faced bans. These books offer different life perspectives to readers, as the themes in many banned books are important historical topics and topics that are important to understand in life. People must have the opportunity to learn about these different perspectives, even if the content may be deemed controversial. It may give readers a different view on a topic.