“...But Some Are More Equal Than Others”
The topic of banned and challenged books is a topic that many do not dare to talk about due to the many conflicting opinions.Books are challenged and banned because of these conflicting views but are more easily broken into four main topics: Religious, Social, Sexual, and Political. The book Animal Farm by George Orwell, explores the social and political challenges emerging prior to the Cold War. Animal Farm was published in 1945 by Harcourt,Inc. and has been challenged by many such as teachers, cities, states, and even entire continents. To fully understand why this book has been challenged, readers must know that the book takes place on an imaginary farm in England. The time period isn 't specific …show more content…
When the characters that are pigs are compared to powerful characters in the book, readers may see an inappropriate representation of power. Readers also have compared some events that occur in the book to the actual history of the soviet history ( ). One specific time this happens is when Boxer is sent away to a “hospital” that turns out to be a glue factory. David Gerrard says “Just what part of Soviet history corresponds to this?” and refers to the incident as “pathetic” (pen.org). Another challenge of the book is that some people feel an “intense desire to shout “Rebellion” (Huffingtonpost). This “rebellious” vibe that the book naturally gives off is exactly what caused John Birch Society in WI to ban the book in 1963. The book was banned for the use of the statement “the masses will revolt.” (dangerouspages.blogspot). If the reader can understand that the book was meant to be taken as rebellious because of the Cold War time period it was written to portray, then one may be able to differentiate the necessity of rebellion in Animal Farm. Pauline Hawkins, an english teacher at Great Bay Community college, included Animal Farm as a big inspiration to her curriculum. Hawkins believes that the book well illustrates the conflict during the Cold War era. She states that she “ see(s) the similarities between the corruption of power and our present educational system…” and encourages students to not …show more content…
As stated previously, teachers are able to find ways to incorporate the challenges in Animal Farm into their curriculum by viewing them as necessary for the development of the point of view for children. “The novel works well in either a history class or a literature class, which makes teaching the novel multifaceted” states Pauline Hawkins. The book teaches students to not follow leader blindly and shows how easy it is for people, or animals, to become overthrown simply because of their lack of leadership or bravery. It is because of these reasons that a book with as much depth and symbolism as Animal Farm should not be withheld from the minds of the youth and therefore should not be banned from any
The topic of banned and challenged books is a topic that many do not dare to talk about due to the many conflicting opinions.Books are challenged and banned because of these conflicting views but are more easily broken into four main topics: Religious, Social, Sexual, and Political. The book Animal Farm by George Orwell, explores the social and political challenges emerging prior to the Cold War. Animal Farm was published in 1945 by Harcourt,Inc. and has been challenged by many such as teachers, cities, states, and even entire continents. To fully understand why this book has been challenged, readers must know that the book takes place on an imaginary farm in England. The time period isn 't specific …show more content…
When the characters that are pigs are compared to powerful characters in the book, readers may see an inappropriate representation of power. Readers also have compared some events that occur in the book to the actual history of the soviet history ( ). One specific time this happens is when Boxer is sent away to a “hospital” that turns out to be a glue factory. David Gerrard says “Just what part of Soviet history corresponds to this?” and refers to the incident as “pathetic” (pen.org). Another challenge of the book is that some people feel an “intense desire to shout “Rebellion” (Huffingtonpost). This “rebellious” vibe that the book naturally gives off is exactly what caused John Birch Society in WI to ban the book in 1963. The book was banned for the use of the statement “the masses will revolt.” (dangerouspages.blogspot). If the reader can understand that the book was meant to be taken as rebellious because of the Cold War time period it was written to portray, then one may be able to differentiate the necessity of rebellion in Animal Farm. Pauline Hawkins, an english teacher at Great Bay Community college, included Animal Farm as a big inspiration to her curriculum. Hawkins believes that the book well illustrates the conflict during the Cold War era. She states that she “ see(s) the similarities between the corruption of power and our present educational system…” and encourages students to not …show more content…
As stated previously, teachers are able to find ways to incorporate the challenges in Animal Farm into their curriculum by viewing them as necessary for the development of the point of view for children. “The novel works well in either a history class or a literature class, which makes teaching the novel multifaceted” states Pauline Hawkins. The book teaches students to not follow leader blindly and shows how easy it is for people, or animals, to become overthrown simply because of their lack of leadership or bravery. It is because of these reasons that a book with as much depth and symbolism as Animal Farm should not be withheld from the minds of the youth and therefore should not be banned from any