Censorship In Douglas Howard's Silencing Huck Finn

Douglas Howard presents a personal experience of literary censorship in the article "Silencing Huck Finn.", defining the decision of when choosing censorship has a greater benefit over becoming offensive. In the article, Howard discusses the benefits of establishing an open dialogue around controversial literature through instating a college English course. Additionally, the author analyzes the experience of needing to choose whether to recite aloud a profanity included in Mark Twain’s classic story “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, contemplating if staying true to a literary classic is worth perhaps offending or insulting any students.

Eventually coming to the conclusion that although total censorship is not a necessity or solution,

Additionally, presenting an argument from an informed individual in coordination with my subject, such as a school teacher, allows readers to understand they are receiving credible information. McSpedden’s views and statements of censorship corresponds with my research in many ways, concurring with the view it can become more harmful than helpful very easily.

In Kathleen McWilliams’s article "Banned Books Week: Celebrating Controversial Books that have Shaped American Society.", the author discusses the connection between many classic literary titles that are studied and praised by some while, being deemed controversial and inappropriate by others.

There are a series of quotations included in McWilliams’s article, beginning with an excerpt from Ray Bradbury’s 1953 classic “Fahrenheit 451” a novel with themes of book censorship which has, some would say ironically, held a spot on the top banned book list for many years. Finishing with a quotation from Donna Decker, a professor of banned literature at Franklin Pierce University, sharing the opinion that censorship is truly born out of fear.

When censoring your own child’s school life, it can also have a great impact on the lives of other students. Choosing to remove content from schools and libraries takes the material from all students and children who can learn and benefit from the stories, not only that one child.

Within the article “How Banning Books Marginalizes Children”, Ringel discusses the way in which literature written for younger children is more often aimed to please prospective parents and administrators instead of the intended audience of young minds. Accordingly, emphasizing the point that when literature does bring forward diverse subjects, issues one may likely experience in real life, to intrigue and educate young readers, authority figures will deem this content inappropriate, taking away its accessibility.

Additionally, Ringel analyzes the negative effects banning books with these certain issues present, underlining this by stating, “Quiet decisions by libraries not to carry titles such as Kate Messner’s The Seventh Wish, whose protagonist has an older sibling grappling with addiction, or Alex Gino’s George, which is about the life of a transgender fourth-grader, reflect a resurgent fear and misinterpretation of difference.”