Lauren Miller, senior writer and co-founder of Salon.com, poses the question: Where were these censors when we really needed them — that is, when our 10th-grade teachers assigned Beowulf or The Pearl?
Miller suggests that there are some classics, when forced upon students, that ruin reading. I know personally there are some classics I could have done without having to suffer through — Silas Marner, anyone? Miller’s article is much more about the education system and its choice of literature rather than book banning as a whole. Are there books that no longer serve a purpose in education? Let’s face it, if a student isn’t going to understand or even read the material what is the point in teaching it? Wouldn’t it be better to use material that is both educational and interesting?
“What is the educative value of making nerdy kids (or anyone, I suppose) read ‘Lord of the Flies’?” asks film critic Andrew O’Hehir. “Is it pure sadism? To rub their faces in the gravity of their predicament, and the likely fact that they will sooner or later be sacrificed to a nonexistent God by their classmates? Now, I recognize the book’s literary value, no question, and the point that it’s an allegory about human society and not strictly about children or for children. But that’s not how you read it when you’re 11, for the love of sweet suffering Jesus. Really hated that experience.”
What are you experiences have you had reading classic literature or any literature for that matter, in school? Do you think it is time to retire some of the books from the required reading list and replace them with more current novels?