Censorship In Forest Of Hands And Teeth

No Knowledge of History, No Knowledge of Yourself
“Who are we if not the stories we pass down? What happens when there’s no one left to tell those stories? To hear them? Who will ever know that I existed?” This quote is from the book The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and it explains how the main character Mary cares deeply about how people will be remembered and their history, because in her society they knew nothing of their history, and where they came from, they were just there striving to survive from the unconsecrated. She is caught up in the turmoil of not knowing due to the Sisters of the cathedral in her village keeping secrets; their history of what happened. In the end, the history is what is going to carry her on living and escape to …show more content…
These are called closed societies. In the words of Anastaplo, “A closed society means that information and communication are restricted from its people because of the use of Censorship. This tells us that even if they have books and textbooks they would be censored and some things may not be true (Anastaplo).” “This is bad for the society’s citizens, because they aren’t allowed to know; there are bans on the media, people can’t oppose political parties, restrictions on citizen assembly or organization, and also control over information and communication over the society’s borders” (Hopkins). Anastaplo states, “Censorship occurs in all authorities to some degree, therefore it even happens here too.” In Hopkins’s view, “it is bad for the society to its citizens and as a whole. The leaders chose what their people are allowed to know so they don’t ask questions and the less they know the more control they have over the people”. This statement shows that those people have their freedom taken away; they can’t advance or learn because of the restrictions and suppression. Sometimes we do not know what we have until we look at a place that doesn’t have those …show more content…
In our past, people have fought and suffered through to get to what we have now, freedom. Those people deserve to be remembered in history. R.G. Collingwood wrote, "History is for human self-knowledge...the only clue to what man can do is what man has done.” It’s true, how would we have anything now if we have not developed and studied over time? “Therefore, History is like different styles of life we learn from, mistakes are made and we learn from them” (McCullough). From this we can conclude that, As children grow up, they are our future; they will carry on their knowledge and pass it on to their kids. If they don’t know their history how will you be remembered? How would anything be remembered if it’s not people who carry it on through generation to generation? In the words of McCullough, “People did not live in the past, they lived in their present just as we do, and the difference is it was their present. From this we can understand that they did not know what was going to happen or how it was going to turn out, just like us”(McCullough). As Stearns points out, “History teaching by example” it’s a phrase used to describe the study of the past. The great men and women throughout history dealing with moral dilemmas provide us with knowledge for us to learn courage, leadership, and standing up for what you believe in” (Stearns). We are the future’s history, it is crucial for people to remember and carry on the