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"In Mark Twain's lifetime, his books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were excluded from the juvenile sections of the Brooklyn Public Library (among other libraries), and banned from the library in Concord, MA, home of Henry Thoreau. In recent years, some high schools have dropped Huckleberry Finn from their reading lists, or have been sued by parents who want the book dropped. In Tempe, Arizona, a parent's lawsuit that attempted to get the local high school to remove the book from a required reading list went as far as a federal appeals court in 1998. (The court's decision in the case, which affirmed Tempe High's right to teach the book, has some interesting comments about education and racial tensions.)"
Source: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html
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The Evans Library "Banned Books Display" consists of two banners containing titles of books that have been banned or challenged at least once. This is but a very small percentage of the actual amount of books that have been challenged or banned over the years. Not realizing they have been banned or challenged, patrons are surprised to learn they have read quite a few of these books. The actual display case has been wrapped in a plain brown paper with tears throughout to convey the notion that the enclosed books/resources are 'off-limits' or banned from viewing. As patrons peek through the tears they see not only actual books but symbolic realia reflecting censorship: chains and a lock, duct-taped mouths of 'banned' authors and jailed and hand-cuffed individuals with pen in hand.
To further explore the 'banned books' dimension, an interactive quiz is available for patrons to test their knowledge of banned books by matching a book's description with the title. Visitors to this site are welcome to do the same.
Scroll down for answers.
Banned or Challenged Books on Display
The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn |
Mark Twain |
PS1305 .A1 1912 |
Of Mice and Men |
John Steinbeck |
PS3537 . T3234 03 1938 |
The Catcher in the Rye |
J.D. Salinger |
PS3537 .A426 C3 1964 |
The Color Purple |
Alice Walker |
PS3573.A425 C6 1982 |
A Wrinkle in Time |
Madeleine L'Engle |
PS3523 .E55 W7 1962 |
To Kill a Mockingbird |
Harper Lee |
PS3562.E353 T6 |
Beloved: A Novel |
Toni Morrison |
PS3563 .08749 B4 1987 |
Slaughterhouse - five, or, The Children's Crusade |
Kurt Vonnegut |
PS3572.05 S53 1988 |
Lord of the Flies |
William Golding |
PR6013.035 L6 1962 |
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Native Son |
Richard Wright |
PS3545.R815 NS |
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
Mark Twain |
PS1306 .A1 1920 |
Song of Solomon |
Toni Morrison |
PS3563.08749 S6 1978 |
The Call of the Wild |
Jack London |
PS3523.046 C3 1931 |
Frankenstein |
Mary Shelley |
PR5397 .F7 1968 |
What is the difference between a 'challenge' and a 'banning'?
Why has the Harry Potter series been challenged?
A supplemental brochure provides these answers as well as additional information on banned books.
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MOVIES |
Many movies contain a story line dealing with censorship:
Storm Center - (a Bette Davis classic) tells the story of a small town librarian (Davis) who refuses to remove a book on communism. (1965)
Fahrenheit 451- a futuristic fascist society where the fireman's job is to burn books. (1966)
1984 - the George Orwell classic about Big Brother and the subordination of the individual to the state. (1955)
The Seven Minutes - based on the Irving Wallace novel of the same title, this movie tells the story of a bookseller arrested for distributing an 'obscene' novel. (1971)
Inherit the Wind - a fictionalized account of the famous Scopes 'monkey trial' starring Spencer Tracy as 'Henry Drummond', a thinly disguised Clarence Darrow. (1960)
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Answers to the banned books quiz above:
"A viscious fifteen-year-old droog is the central character of this 1963 classic..." A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
"It is a dark and stormy night..." A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
"Between 1930 and 1935, [author] came into full possession of the genius and creativity that made him America's greatest writer of the 20th century..." As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
"Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade..." Taming the Star Runner by S.E. Hinton
"[Author's] novel of a Vermont farm boyhood has become a celebrated classic..." A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
"Travis is the epitome of cool, especially when he's in trouble..." Bridge to Tarabithia by Katherine Paterson
"[Title] is like no other novel. It has its own rationale, its own extraordinary character..." Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
"Jerry Renault is pondering the question on the poster in his locker..." The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
"That rare literary phenomenon, a Southern novel with no mildew on its magnolia leaves..." To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
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“If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion,
and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more
justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would
be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of
no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were
simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury
was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing
the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity
as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still
more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of
the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is
almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression
of truth, produced by its collision with error.”
- On Liberty, John Stuart Mill
This site is presented by the Florida Institute of Technology Evans Library Instructional Programs team of Kathy Turner and Joanne Savage