Why pick on "To Kill a Mockingbird"?
Asked by
josie (
30934
)
November 4th, 2010
The book, set in the late 30s (for context) is about courage, compassion, and gender roles.
I wonder how many young men went to law school in the 60s aspiring to be Atticus Finch?
I read it as a kid in the 70s and thought it was a truly great and thought provoking story.
My kids read it when they were in school (required reading) and it was one of the few mandated books that they really liked.
The book won the Pulitzer prize.
Recently, a couple of schools in my area, without much fanfare or notice, removed this book from their libraries.
How is it that a Pulitzer prize winner becomes one more victim of PC?
Plus, who are the truly ignorant?
The vanishing breed of folks who are represented by Bob Ewell, or the folks who imagine that To Kill a Mockingbird contains some sinister racist message that needs to be suppressed at any cost?
Well, at least they didn’t burn it. That will probably come later.
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
16 Answers
Hadn’t heard of such a thing happening, kind of disappointed to hear it. I also liked the book when I was in school. (Mandated reading for us, as well.)
I feel like it does more harm than good to bury that sort of literature. Does burying that history undo it? Not so much.
Are these schools in your area that are banning it public or private? Books that get banned due to conservativists’ opinions of what is or is not PC usually get put on my ‘To Read’ list.
I believe it’s the PC left liberals, not the conservatives, who are banning books; just like they banned Huckleberry Finn.
As a librarian, I can report that requests to ban books come from across the religious and political spectrum for all sorts of reasons. It is an issue most librarians fight against constantly. To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderful book. If you wnt to get actively invovled, Iwould raise the question with these institutions as to why the book was banned.
@janbb The book was removed because it contained “racial slurs and references to rape”.
@josie – that’s always the reason. I find it abhorrent that people feel as if banning information about a concept will eliminate the negative aspects of it.
Perhaps these institutions need to explain how these books promote racism and rape, instead of get people thinking about why these things are wrong – which is exactly what “To Kill A Mockingbird” is meant to do – show why it’s wrong.
emphasis meant for the institutions, not you, of course, @josie
@josie As a friend here used to say, aggressive stupidity is rampant. I often wish that the people who are for something were as vocal as the people who are agin it!
Libraries these days are pulling all kinds of good books off the shelves. I think, instead, we should tease the book apart to see if there are racist undertones and use that lesson for analysis of the times in which the book was written. After all, I don’t burn the Bible because it’s so offensive – I just tell my kids it was written in an age when it was okay to treat people the way it is described…hell, sometimes, we still live in that age.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir – a novel idea (pun intended) – learning instead of burning.
(copyrighted phrase by me).
(also, sarcasm intended – I fully back @Simone_De_Beauvoir‘s statement, but that it should be something that is rare instead of common these days is deeply disappointing).
Not sure if it is more common than formerly; it is a perennial problem. The “thought police” are everywhere.
It amazes me that people will ban a book because of something like that. Unfortunately, that is the way society was in the 30’s. The book reflects the time about which it was written. You can’t ignore it or pretend it didn’t happen. After all, those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.
@diavolobella And even those who remember it seemed condemned to repeat it!
I read the book some time ago and wasn’t overly impressed by it but I am disturbed that anyone should see fit to censor it. Libraries are there to help us think and not to tell us what to think. There may be an innocent explanation, perhaps the copy had pages missing. If so they should replace it as it is a classic.
To Kill a Mockingbird has been under attack since it was written for various reasons. Ironically, the PC police attack it for being “racist” because of certain words that it uses, and racists attack it for showing cooperation between blacks and whites.
Anyone with half a brain and an ounce of critical thinking skills can see that it is actually a vindication of civil rights. The racial slurs are used in the context of the era by the fucking racists in the story, themselves. Just like in a lot of Twain’s work.
Lawyers actually use “Atticus Finch” as an example in professional ethics issues – it’s a novel that is profoundly based in our civil rights.
I’ve had enough! For every copy of To Kill A Mockingbird that is burned I am going to have an abortion, smoke a pack of cigarettes in public, and eat a plate full of transfatty foods.
if they keep fucking up like this i must have to do something really crazy like vote.
Answer this question 
Composing members:
0
