Banned Book-Of-The-Day: To Kill a Mockingbird
- David Sanchez
- Sep 22, 2014
- 2 min read
Reasons for Censorship: Offensive language, racism
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
It has been 54 years since the publication of Harper Lee’s most famous book, and yet people are still attempting to rid our libraries of it. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most heartfelt and influential books of the last century—it has no business being banned! To Kill a Mockingbird’s male lead, Atticus Finch, is quite possibly the bravest hero in all of literature. Unlike the typical swoop-in-and-save-the-day hero, Atticus not only fought against his enemies, but his neighbors and long-time friends. He stood up for his beliefs, defending someone that nearly each and every citizen of Maycomb County had deemed guilty from the start. That is precisely why banning the book for “racism” makes no sense whatsoever. Atticus stood up to the bigoted and racist views of his hometown, capturing the very essence of civil rights with his famous and beautiful speech to the judge and jury, which you can find here.
That speech—that righteous, heroic, inspiring speech—puts into words the very heart of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. I cannot fathom why To Kill a Mockingbird is censored on account of racism. Yes, the book contains racist characters. But Atticus fights against those people! He battles them and their beliefs with every fiber of his being, desperately trying to show Maycomb County the error of their ways. The novel is an accurate account of the treatment of African American people in the 60s. So, why is it banned? Why would an accurate and awe-inspiring novel such as this be banned? For that, I have no answer. I would, however, like to share with you a quote by Oscar Wilde that may offer some insight into that question:
“The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.”
Stand up against book banning and help to restore Atticus Finch’s credibility as one of literature’s greatest heros!
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