- Banned in Rochester, Mich. because the novel "contains and makes references to religious matters"
- Banned in Levittown, NY (1975), North Jackson, Ohio (1979), and Lakeland, Fla. (1982) because of the "book's explicit sexual scenes, violence, and obscene language."
- Banned from the Fitzgerald, Ga. schools (1987) because it was "filled with profanity and full of explicit sexual references."
- Restricted to students who have parental permission at the four Racine, Wis. Unified District high school libraries (1986) because of "language used in the book, depictions of torture, ethnic slurs, and negative portrayal of women."
- Challenged at the Owensboror, Ky. High School library (1985) because of "foul language, a section depicting a picture of an act of bestiality, a reference to 'Magic Fingers' attached to the protagonist's bed to help him sleep, and the sentence: 'The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the fly of God Almighty.'"
- Challenged in the LaRue County, Ky. High School library (1987) because "the book contains foul language and promotes deviant sexual behavior."
- Challenged in the Baton Rouge, La. public high school libraries (1988) because the book is "vulgar and offensive."
- Challenged in the Monroe, Mich. public schools (1989) as required reading in a modern novel course for high school juniors and seniors because of the book's language and the way women are portrayed.
- an obvious anti-American sentiment, unpatriotic
Religious Matters
I personally think that reference to religion should cause the censorship or a novel, and especially in Slaughterhouse-Five, there is nothing overtly offensive. Unless a novel contains material propagating hate about a religious sect or people, similar to Nazism, a novel should not be censored for questioning belief systems. If someone is convinced in their beliefs they should be able to defend themselves from the doubts of others, and only make them stronger in their faith.
Sexually Explicit
Sex is natural, and we all learn about it or do it someday! I don't understand why very young people would be reading this book, and if they were, they are clearly at a level of maturity that they can handle some sexual material. Otherwise, don't read it.
Obscene Language
Similarly to sexual material, we will all come across obscene language at some point in our lives, whether it is in Slaughterhouse-Five or while watching TV. If you can't handle the language, once again, put the book down.
Sexism
Now this is one that can be debated, and I am particularly sympathetic to this reason, as I am female. However, books with sexist undertones of the past should not be banned nor censored as a reminder of the social and political progression we have seen, and how wrong it really is. Slaughterhouse-Five, I do not find offensive, women just seem very archetypal, but I don't think that is justification to ban the novel. Besides, Slaughterhouse is a war book, and men fought the wars Vonnegut experienced. Women did much on the home-front, but the novel is more focussed on the tragedy of the front-lines.
Anti-American Sentiment
Although there isn't official documentation that this was used as a reason to ban the book, it is a wrong reason to do so. If the American Government was truly confident of themselves, and open about their dealings, small comments in a novel should not concern them. However, if a novel does bring light to political controversy, citizens should be encouraged to read it and set things right. Unfortunately, there is the problem of insulting veterans and the families of those who lost loved ones in war, but as Vonnegut experienced the war in similar ways, he should be allowed to say what he wants. If you can't handle unpatriotic literature, don't read it.
I think very similarly about other literature we have read this year like Animal Farm, 1984 and Brave New World. I especially applaud Eric Blair for publishing his novels during a time of political turmoil.
I really liked the way that you set this post up. I was surprised to see that the language and sexuality was the primary problem that the public had with the novel. I would have thought that the anti-American sentiment throughout the text would have been a bigger issue.
ReplyDeleteYou made some good points about the nature of censorship in this post. I have yet to read a really interesting female character in a Vonnegut text. While some may argue that he was sexist in his construction of these characters and seeming loyalty to a single archetype, maybe he just didn't think about this as one of his literary aims.
I completely agree that the primary issues schools had with the novel was the anti-American tone. I think that the secondary issues with language and sexuality were just "excuses" to ban the novel. I thought about it further, and looking at the years in which it was censored, the high school students reading it were probably the children of WWII veterans. No one wants their kids looking at them the way American soldiers are portrayed.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on many of the issues presented. Books like Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" also stirred much controversy, particularly with the churches. I think that Darwin was simply presenting his findings and was not condemning religious, which should be acceptable.
ReplyDeleteHowever, regarding the sexual nature of SH5, I think that there should be some sort of warning to prevent a younger reader from unintentionally getting their hands on it.