Banned Books 101

Background: Originally published October 8, 2003. It's important to remember that this column was written, NOT with the intent of promoting or adding controversial books into a school curriculum...but instead to remind people that most of  the books that would be included in a banned books class, are already being taught in other classes. Books such as Huckleberry Finn and Of Mice And Men.

     Last week was Banned Books Week, as observed each year by the American Library Association. I always thought it would be interesting to teach such a class.
     My limited time that I recently spent teaching high school students at the Umpqua Community College Woolley Center, coupled with my interest in literature, would make this a fun subject to teach....and hopefully an educational one for the students as well.
     The curriculum would include books that have been banned or challenged somewhere in the United States. We could delve into the classics, such as Huckleberry Finn, Gone With The Wind, or Catcher In The Rye.
     The Holy Bible, perhaps one of the most banned books of all times, would be included in the curriculum as well. After all, if colleges offer "Bible as literature" classes, why shouldn't high schools? As long as Banned Books 101 was an elective course, and not a class that students were required to take, there would be nothing unconstitutional in studying religious-themed texts in a high school class.
     It might be fun (I say that tongue-in-cheek) to compare Bible passages with Milton's Paradise Lost. I shudder to think how such a class outline would be planned, because Paradise Lost is such slow reading, it would probably take the entire term for the students to translate some of the passages.
     After the heavy reading, the students and I could enjoy a relaxing day reading Waldo. The popular children's book was challenged in one school district because it allegedly showed a caricature of an exposed breast. Interestingly, school officials in that district never could find the alleged hidden picture among hundreds of other drawings, despite hours of research.
     Then there are other children's books that are banned because they promote witchcraft. In fact, the Harry Potter series was the most challenged title in 2002. Students are already exposed to a variety of subject matter on the occult, so I'm not sure if I would incorporate this into a school curriculum. Unless it was to do a comparison of how different books deal with magic and fantasy...and why some of them are vehemently protested, such as Harry Potter...and why some of them receive very little protest at all...such as The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Some religious groups despise the former, and yet embrace the latter.
     I still remember my Reedsport fifth grade teacher, Ted Miller, reading from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe each day in class. By whose standards do we decide which book should be condemned? THAT is the probing question that could be explored in a Banned Books 101 class. The class wouldn't tell students what to think, but encourage students to evaluate literature and to hopefully better understand the reasons that some books come under fire.
     My grandfather was one of the strictest disciplinarians that I know of. Not only were tobacco, alcohol, obscene vocabulary, and revealing clothing (any skin showing) banned from his home....but he forbid my mother from reading Gone With The Wind, because of the sinful lifestyle and blasphemous words that it contained.
     Imagine my mother's surprise when she was 16 years old and visiting another relative who also had strict religious beliefs. One of the first books that my great aunt pulled out for my mother to read was Gone With The Wind.
     "But that book is sinful. How come you want me to read that?" questioned my mother. "Well, Lucille, you're old enough to know the difference between right and wrong," was the reply. "The good things in this book far outweigh the bad. There's a great amount of history about the South during the Civil War period, and it's important for you to know how the people lived. I'm trusting in you enough to know the difference between the good and the bad."
     Banned Books Week reminds us all that somebody, somewhere will object to something that one of us reads. I think most people would probably not want my late grandfather selecting the books that people read at the local library.
     By the same token, just because one person thinks they see an exposed breast hidden in a cartoon caricature of Waldo, doesn't mean the rest of the population should be forbidden from the book. Admittedly, it would be difficult to add Banned Books 101 as an elective literature course at the high school level. The title of the class itself would prompt some people to object to the course. Ironically, the title itself would probably spark an interest in literature for some students, and cause them to sign up for the course.
     The books that we would study in Banned Books 101 are already taught in various high school literature and English classes. Perhaps a more bland title for the class would be acceptable? English Seminar? Advanced Literature? The trouble is, with a boring class title like that, not as many students would be interested in signing up for the course.