All Books are Not Created Equal

In the final unit of our class Forbidden Books, we learned about censorship. We did not do an action project for Unit 2 because our teacher thought this project was more important. In the 3rd unit, we learned about the censorship of books. We read Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." We had weekly book clubs to discuss the book. We visited our local public radio station, WBEZ, to meet with their south-side correspondent Natalie Moore. Ms. Moore wrote a book about the South-Side that was banned in Illinois prisons. We talked with her about what it was like to be an author of a banned book. At the beginning of this class, we chose one of five banned books. The options were: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Animal Farm by George Orwell. Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I chose The Outsiders because it is one of my favorite books of all time. We then had to read the book and write an essay about why it was banned. I liked this project because it was challenging. We don't write essays that often, and I like writing them. I am proud of how it came out and happy that I got to write about my favorite book.

TheeErin. "“When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.” (1972) Flickr. Web. 23, March 2018.

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Forbidden Books

16 March 2018

The Censorship of The Outsiders

Imagine a writer working hard for years on a book that she is so proud of. She can’t wait to get it out into the world for everyone to read it. Just as she thinks she has made it, her book is banned all across the country for its explicit nature. This is actually very common all across the world and has happened for a very long time. S.E. Hinton was only 16 years old when she started writing her famous novel The Outsiders in 1967. This book follows the lives of teenagers in a gang in Tulsa, OK in the 1960s. Their gang is called the Greasers. They are rivals of the gang the Socs. The main character is Ponyboy Curtis, who is the youngest member of the gang. Ponyboy’s brothers are Sodapop and Darry. Their parents were killed in a car accident leaving Darry, the oldest, to look after the brothers. One day, the Socs beat up Johnny (who is another member of the Greasers) and Ponyboy which ends up with Johnny killing one of the Socs in self-defense. The Greasers then have to go into hiding to try to run away from their crimes. Some of the Greasers try to deal with the consequences, some of the Greasers become heroes, and some end up having a tragic end. This book’s main theme is the importance of family and sticking together. Ponyboy and his brothers have to figure out their lives as they try to cope with their parents' deaths and the actions of the other gang members. This book was censored because it depicted underaged drinking, smoking, and drug use. It is also very violent with many graphic fight scenes depicted. Many churches also banned this book because it went against the Christian path. Even though there is violence and illegal activities, The Outsiders should not be banned in schools or churches.

The Outsiders was banned in schools and churches because of its depiction of underage drinking, smoking and drug use. It is also violent and describes gory fight scenes. The book was first challenged in 1986 in a school district in Milwaukee Wisconsin when the book was put on an 8th-grade reading list. It was banned because according to the University of Tulsa, “Drug and alcohol abuse was common and virtually all the characters were from broken homes”(Rosenthal). It was later challenged in a Boone, Iowa school district because of the “Glamorizing drug and alcohol use and uses obsessive violence and obscenity” (Rosenthal). It was then challenged in a West Virginia middle school because of its depictions of gang violence. The Outsiders was also banned in many churches around the country because of all the depictions described above, which could lead the readers to fall out of the “Christian path” (Rosenthal). This book was banned mostly for political and religious reasons.

The Outsiders was banned for many reasons that were stated before. These reasons can be explained with quotes directly from the book. In this first quote, Johnny and Ponyboy are hanging out at the park late at night smoking. They then see some of the Socs come into the park. One of the Socs, Bob, shoves Ponyboy’s head into the fountain, almost drowning him. Johnny feels that Bob will kill Ponyboy, so he pulls his switchblade and stabs Bob. Johnny said, “‘I killed him," he said slowly. "I killed that boy" (Hinton 48) Ponyboy describes, “Bob, the handsome Soc, was lying there in the moonlight, doubled up and still. A dark pool was growing from him, spreading slowly over the blue white cement. I looked at Johnny's hand. He was clutching his switchblade, and it was dark to the hilt. My stomach gave a violent jump and my blood turned icy”’(Hinton 48). This quote is controversial because it shows gang violence and describes emotional trauma and gory details.The next quote is from when Johnny and Ponyboy run away to Windrixville and hide out in an abandoned church. They are trying to hide from their crimes. In this quote, Ponyboy describes the fifth day of hiding out. They have had barely anything to eat and have smoked many cigarettes. Ponyboy said, “On the fifth day I had read up to Sherman's siege of Atlanta in Gone with the Wind, owed Johnny a hundred and fifty bucks from poker games, smoked two packs of Camels, and as Johnny had predicted, got sick. I hadn't eaten anything all day; and smoking on an empty stomach doesn't make you feel real great. I curled up in a corner to sleep off the smoke” (Hinton 68). This quote is controversial because it depicts underaged minors smoking and starving themselves. Ponyboy describes the effects of not eating much for days and smoking two packs of cigarettes, and how that makes the body feel. This is another reason why some people find The Outsiders controversial.

Even though many schools, churches, and people have banned or challenged The Outsiders, and they do have a good reason, this book should not be banned. The first reason is that this book teaches a valuable life lesson. The main overarching theme of the book is being loyal to family and trusting loved ones. This is a valuable life lesson that can be taken away. Secondly, all of the topics that are seen as “controversial” are all real-world topics and issues that come up in a teen’s life. Sheltering teens away from these “bad” behaviors won’t make them not want to do it, it will just make them uneducated about the subject and more likely to endanger themselves. Lastly, banning books is a bad way to keep ideas out of people’s minds. Deciding whether something is worthy or not for people to see is ridiculous. People should be able to decide for themselves if they want to read things. S.E. Hinton, the author of The Outsiders spoke to Willamette Weekly. When asked about the controversial topics in her book Hinton said, “In the beginning sometimes it was banned—just from parents seeing the book's cover and not reading the book. Teachers said to students, "Take the book home and read it." Nowadays grandparents share it with their grandchildren.” (Korfhage) Authors of banned books also have an opinion on their books being banned.

Even if The Outsiders is banned in different places, it doesn't change that fact that it is a good classic young adult novel, and many people enjoy it. Books have been banned and censored for a long time. banning books has existed throughout history because even people thousands of years ago had an agenda about what people could and could not read. Things might be banned historically in different places for different reasons just like today. This agenda has carried onto today. Not everyone is going to agree on what people can and cannot see. Nowadays, with the internet and television, we have many different kinds of censorship. Whether it is bleeping out curse words in TV, or putting age restrictions on movies, people are letting other people decide for themselves what they can and cannot see. The Outsiders still should not be banned because it does have a wholesome message, and is not nearly as violent and gory as some other books and media in the world today.

Works Cited

Baldassarro, Wolf R. “Banned Books Awareness: The Outsiders.” World.edu. Global Education Network. May 8, 2011. http://world.edu/banned-books-awareness-outsiders/

Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders. New York City: Viking Press, 1967. Print.

Korfhage, M. “Outsiders Author S.E. Hinton Talks Matt Dillon, and Why Everybody Keeps Showing Her Their Tattoos.” Willamette Weekly. May 16, 2017. http://www.wweek.com/uncategorized/2017/05/16/outsiders-author-s-e-hinton-talks-matt-dillon-and-why-everybody-keeps-showing-her-their-tattos/

Rosenthal, K. “Banned Books: Young Adult Novels.” University of Tulsa. March 13, 2014. http://orgs.utulsa.edu/spcol/?p=3254


In conclusion, I really liked this project. I enjoy writing essays, and it is alwaus very rewarding when they are finished. I really liked being able to read and write about by favorite book. I have never really thought about my positions on banned books before. After this project, I now think censoring books is ridicuous. People should decide for themselves what they do and don't want to read.