The Value Of Challenged Literature - 1389 Words

The Value of Challenged Literature â€Å"Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance† (Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak and Chains). Banning books that teach important values and educate children on real world situations is only hurting them in the long run. For Huck Finn in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, growing up in times of racial injustice allows readers to see the value of not ignoring history’s real world problems and how they are portrayed in controversial American literature. â€Å"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn†, one of most commonly banned books, is about a young boy named Huck who befriends a black man named Jim and together run away from his abusive, drunken†¦show more content†¦Throughout the book, Huck and Jim travel and encounter many experiences that bring them closer together. Huck begins to see Jim not as a slave, but as a human being, a moral transformation that becomes his American journey. Although Adventures of Huckleberry Finn targets some serious, controversial themes about race, language, and violence, the novel is a good example of how race does not define a person’s intelligence or their ability to be compassionate, values that should not be censored. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee depicts themes of discrimination, profanity, rape, and violence through the eyes of a six year old girl named Scout. From the novel, â€Å"Report and be damned to ye! Ain’t no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c’n make me do nothin’!† (Lee 37). This quote is an accurate representation of the harsh discrimination in Maycomb, Alabama and how people s harsh language could be seen as controversial. Also, â€Å"Old Mr. Bob Ewell accused him of rapin’ his girl an’ had him arrested an’ put in jail--† (Lee 164). Lee uses themes of rape in the novel, an action that was unfortunately known to be very common during that time, but is disturbing to officials that have challenged the book. Scout, a lawyer’s daughter, witnesses a trial that does not end in justice. Scout sees the discrimination and prejudice around her and matures as a