To Kill a Mockingbird: Why not to ban
The book To Kill a Mockingbird has been fought over for many years. Many people think it should be banned for its language and storyline, which in fact does not make sense at all because those themes exist in real life as well, and we can’t erase them from history. It has many important values imbedded in the story for us to learn, as well as a lot to teach us about our history. This 1960’s novel is a classic with what was a controversial plot at the time. To Kill a Mockingbird is a great novel and should not be banned from schools.
The ones who believe this novel should be banned say it is because of the use of the n-word and the overall racism towards African Americans. Obviously they don’t understand the meaning of the story though, because the whole novel is denouncing racism and prejudice. Even the main characters, such as Atticus, are angered over others failure to think of everyone as equals. The story is showing just one of the ways prejudice can stop people from making the right decision. Even though some might argue that it’s showing African Americans in a bad light, the author is actually silently mocking the characters who believe whites to be better blacks.
To Kill a Mockingbird is certainly a book for more mature readers; Elementary or lower Middle School students won’t be able to understand the themes. There is no reason why higher classes can’t handle the novel, odds are most of them have heard or seen worse than that. If they are explained to about why this book is important, there should be no problem. Instead, the novel will teach them good values, such as to take a stand for what you believe in, or that true bravery is when you start something and see it through even if you knew from the start you wouldn’t succeed. The story is filled with important messages to learn and understand. Students mature enough to read this classic novel will benefit from the knowledge they will gain.
Those who take the time to fully understand the story will learn new vocabulary. The people in the 1930’s used a greater vocabulary than the people in present day. Even the way the characters speak is v...
