I am against the banning of 1984. Originally I wanted to focus my essay around anti-government/pro communism from 1984, but I’m having a hard time finding actual quotes that give concrete evidence of those. That theme really seems to be implied throughout the book rather than actual statements of it. I did instead find instances of violence and anti-Semitism that people would find as reasons to keep 1984 banned.
Pg. 12 of 1984 gives description of Goldstein as being “Jewish” during the two-minutes hate where all the citizens are supposed to vent their anger of Goldstein. Many people would find this offensive and claim it’s anti-Semitic, though later in the book of course we find out that he is like the “good guy” against Big Brother, which discredits those claims.
Also during the two-minutes hate, Winston’s thoughts turn to the dark-haired girl and how much he hates her, where it is described that he wants to violently harm her in various ways on pg. 15 of 1984. This example of violence would be a possible reason for banning the book, though what is described is not as bad as what is shown in movies and on tv that minors already have access to today.
Pg. 249-250 has another example of violence, where Winston is being tortured. Again, kids see worse things in the media. If everyone mimicked what they read or were shown, anyone who watches the news or even Bugs Bunny cartoons would be committing crimes or dropping anvils on others just because they saw it on tv; we don’t emulate just because we see it. To help support this idea, I might look up statistics in psychology of how violence in movies, tv, and video games affects (or does not affect) kids’ actions.
Kim Kottman
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John Nguyen
4/15/2013 07:49:18 am
I think the quotes that you chose from the book was good. I would suggest that an example of anti communism is when Winston is writing in his book.
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Aubrey Wix
4/14/2013 07:00:15 am
I was originally going to do the pro communist as well, but I think that you are going down the right path when you are talking about the violence and how it could (or not at all) affect our youth! Good job! :)
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Aubrey Wix
4/15/2013 09:01:03 am
This was for Kim :)
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Aubrey Wix
4/14/2013 10:32:42 am
For my essay, I have decided that I am against the banning of 1984. The reason behind why the book was originally banned was because it showed signs of being Pro-Communist and for explicit sexual content. I am discussing in my essay how the novel contradicts these allegations. Out of many quotes I am using, the following three quotes I have chosen to write about involve both allegations and how the two correlate.
(Pg.111) Winston and Julia were in the woods about to make love when he asks her if she loved to do "it." Julia replies by saying that she "Adores it" and he expresses that he would rather hear her say that instead of telling him that she loved him. This animal instinct is what will tear the Party apart. I understand where parents would find this explicit to children because the scene talks about some adult content such as violent kissing and caressing the soft skin on her waist. The fact that they do not say that they are engaging in sex and that they are aiming to act against the party makes it seem less explicit than it really is. Also Julia has acted against the Party hundreds of times before with other members of the Party, which shows that there are obviously many others who oppose Big Brother.
(Pg.27-28)Winston was at the Parsons' house when suddenly their children come running into the room shouting "Criminal!" and "You're a traitor!" to Winston. They were junior spies for the thought police. In Oceania children were often feared sometimes even by their parents and occasionally these children were rewarded for turning in their parents for thought crime because they supported the Party. (Pg.118) Julia discusses why the Party decided to prohibit the act of sex in attempts to create hysteria in order to induce fever and love for the leadership. They went as far as creating the Junior Spies so that if married couples do have sex, parenthood would be less attractive and they would have control in their households more by having little thought police spies.
Throughout pages 194-245, Winston and Julia are turned into the Party’s leader, Obrien, by Mr. Charington and are tortured by brutal beating and being exposed to their worst fear in an attempt to keep their control and loyalty to the government. (Pg.256) Obrien knows that Winston is deathly scared of rats, so in an attempt to have him follow the Party’s rule and to know that he will never disobey the law again, he makes Winston think that the rats will eat his face off and kill him. He gives Winston a chance to give the pain to somebody else and his immediate reaction is Julia. Obrien removes the cage and Winston is released. Winston gave into the power of the Party and learned to accept his fate. He did everything in his power to not give in and to stay true to Julia by putting up a fight, but the Party acted cruel and Winston gave up. This is a form of “learned helplessness” which is a term used in psychology. The novel is the complete opposite of being Pro-Communist, by showing what inhumane things they could do to you and how much control they have over their people.
For further research, I plan on looking at more psychology terms and how they are used/ brought up in the book. I also plan on researching sexual content in the media and what the differences in sexual content there are in PG13 movies vs. R rated movies as well as in other books.
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John Nguyen
4/15/2013 07:50:57 am
Good sections you chose in the book. I think that researching on the type of material featured in PG 13 movies vs Rated R movies is a great way to start. Good Job!
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Kim Kottman
4/15/2013 08:41:59 am
When Big Brother wins at the end, I had forgotten that Julia had previously been with other party members against the government. Good observation :) that's a good example for the anti-government/pro-commusnism argument.
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John Nguyen
4/15/2013 06:58:28 am
For my essay I am also against the banning of 1984. The reason the book was banned was because of being pro-communist as well as having sexual content. These sections that I have found in the novel will contradict these statements as well as some statement being violent.
(PG -18-19) This section is about Winston the main character in this novel is seen writing in his journal in big letters. DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, repeatedly. Big Brother, here would represent the founder of the communistic government, in Winston's World. Although he was afraid he did not go back and erase it or cross it out. This overall theme is pretty much repeated many times in this book, but this is a pretty clear quote I believe in which it shows Winston point of view. He wants to overthrow it rather than subdue to the power. Even though in the end of the book Big Brother wins, I think that the theme of the book is very well expressed. This book is rather be anti communism more than anything. He doesn't care if he got shot, all he cares about is destroying big brother.
(PG 101, 194-245) This scene is in which Winston was contemplating about use a piece of glass to smash a girl's head against the cobblestone. Near the end of the book there a part where it described a body that was not moving and with blood comeing out of his mouth and nose.The most violent part would be when Winston and Julia has been caught and sent to a jail and Winston is being tortured for saying in what he believes in and the brutality he is treated to and how it describes as if Winston's back was about to completely fold in half because of the dial in O' brien's hand. True that this book has some violent aspects but it not nearly as bad as some of the violence shown in the movies in present day. Perhaps the violence tolerance was a lot higher than it is today.
(PG 124-126) This section in the book is where it is features the sexual content. Julia takes off her clothes and throws them to a different place which make Winston happy. Winston later asked Julia if she has done "it" before in which she replies "yes plenty of times". It later shows Winston pushing Julia to the ground and fell "asleep". I can see why parent would see this as sexual content, which it basically is but not as close as it is now, it feels to me as a make-out scene in a pg 13 movie and then it cuts to them just lying in bed or something.
I am going to use these quotes to see how these sexual contents, compare with those of the present day and well as the violence schemes. I believe that this book should not be banned now just because there is so much other bad stuff that can be seen on TV and movies.
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Kim Kottman
4/15/2013 08:51:11 am
I agree about the scene where Winstone and Julia first have sex, it is really just implied that they do rather than go into details to say that they definitely did sleep together. I think the same goes for the other scenes later in the book in that room that Winston rents, the sex is still just implied. Things on tv today really are MUCH more graphic.
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Aubrey Wix
4/15/2013 09:00:32 am
I feel like we all have similar ideas about what we are writing about! You chose some pretty great examples to use. I think the first part, "Down with Big Brother," will make it a clear point for the not-so-ProCommunist theme you've chosen.! Nice job :)
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Aubrey Wix
4/15/2013 03:38:38 pm
For my second novel, I chose Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. This was on the banned book list for numerous accounts of sexual content and religious reasons. I chose this novel because the two have a lot in common when it comes down to the government issues as well as the sexual explicit content. I have decided that I believe this novel should remain banned, but still be acceptable for grade 12 (seniors). The book talks about sex too openly and how, people at a young age should be sleeping around with one another. They also recommend soma as an escape from reality. Soma is a drug and the fact that they bring religion, drugs, and sex all together just is not suitable for young minds that are not accustomed to this type of profanity.
(( I do not have page number because I am reading from my kindle, so I will mention which parts of chapters.))
(Very Beginning of Ch.3) The Director is showing his students around the facility and he comes across the children on the playground. He watches the 7-8 year olds playing together and notices that a little boy does not seem interested in the sexual games that they are told to be playing. He mentions that there might be something wrong with the child and tells the little girl that he was playing with to go run off and find another little boy to play with. This demonstrates a form of child pornography and the fact that they are taught at an extremely young age to be touching and "playing" with each other is morally and disgustingly wrong. People who are the age of 17-18 years old who are not allowed to watch R rated films would understand that this is very wrong. I do not feel people who are not even allowed to watch films that show sexual content should be allowed to read this book.
(Middle to end of Ch.5) This section of the novel is when it was Ford's day and groups of the people get together in groups with 6 men and 6 women to welcome and praise Ford. They get together and drink and take somas and sing songs. This religious ritual brings the people together as one and at the end of the ceremony, they are supposed to have an Orgy. The fact that this is a religious ceremony and that they are taking soma's to feel at one with Ford (which is like their god) makes this uncomfortable and wrong. They also are supposed to end it with a big orgy which in most real religions is not welcome. This can influence readers to believe that doing drugs and sleeping recklessly is the right thing to do. It can also confuse them with religion. If i was a parent, I would definitely not want my child to be reading this explicit material.
To further my research, I would look up different religions and see what their views on sex are as well as drug use. Very controversial topics being discussed in this novel!
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Josh Clark
4/16/2013 05:15:00 pm
I agree with the soma point. That drug ties in drugs, sex, religion, and as a use by those in power to subdue the citizens to remain in power can be too much for the younger population especially if they are not accustomed to the kind of profanity.
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Kim Kottman
4/16/2013 03:41:29 am
I have also chosen Brave New World as my second novel. I've found similarities as well as opposites between 1984 and Brave New World. Both books have a communism/socialism theme, but they differ in ways their societies run. In 1984, Big Brother's goal is to make all people equal in their "love" of Big Brother while keeping them impoverished whether they like it or not. In Brave New World, the society's goal is to condition everyone to be unquestionably happy in their position (low or high class).
I found that there are less themes of violence in Brave New World than in 1984, but there are definitely sexual themes. So far, I am leaning toward not banning this book
On page 38-39, it is described how children are raised in government quarters with no such thing as a parent and that the children are encouraged to use "erotic play" to explore each others bodies at a very young age (I assume). This idea is offensive to many, I agree that "erotic" and "child" should not be used in the same sentence together. However, it is not fully explained in the book in detail what erotic play is, it is glossed over and I had to assume of what it actually is. Because of the lack of detail on this subject, I feel that this has no need of banning, though it is a difficult subject to even think about.
There is also heavy use of drugs in Brave New World, like on page 82, where their drug “soma” is used in a large, cult-like group and creates an almost hallucinogenic feel to the passage. Of course drug use is bad, but in this context it is more of a portrayal of how their society works and what is acceptable to them, which in media today, can be seen in tv shows, movies, video games, and online (not just narcotics but also prescription medications). Again like in 1984, just because we see it, doesn’t mean we will copy and act in the same way or use the same things.
I did also notice that in 1984, sex is prohibited unless to make children, whereas in Brave New World, it is expected in society and considered to be conventional to be promiscuous.
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John
4/16/2013 10:52:55 am
Wow. I didn't even notice that in the difference of the two books. Thanks for pointing that out that sex is prohibited in 1984 but allowed in Brave New World.
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Josh Clark
4/16/2013 05:06:36 pm
I thought the last paragraph was interesting, to them soma is the norm just like coffee, tea, and much more is to societies today.
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John Nguyen
4/16/2013 10:51:28 am
I am also doing Brave New World, and am for the banning, not for all but banning for people below the twelfth grade. There are some parts of the book which features child abuse and a lot of sexual content starting from small ages. They are also using the drug, soma, just to escape the events in real life.
Page 21: The scene where the director show the kids in his group how they train babies to weather like or not like something. They trained the babies by showing them flowers and books and having the babies crawl to it only to be tortured by a shrieking sound and electrocuting. This part in the book was just pretty much messed up, I mean this is pretty much child abuse at a very young age. I would understand why the parents would be offended by this section. It just isn't right.
pg 31-32 This features the outdoors when naked boys and girls are "playing" with each other. They are playing all sorts of games and completely naked. A young boys is taken to the psychologist to see what is wrong with him because he fails to participate in these erotic group games. It is also mentioned later that these types of behaviors at young ages is heavily influenced by the government. On page 38, it mentions teen pregnancy within a 19 year old girl who claims that she is actually 2 year too late.
These are why i believe it should be banned, showing kids sexual behaviors at young ages is not what parents want their kids reading at young ages. What if the kids read this and figure that it is okay to do. Teen pregnancy is also frowned on in our society. Not to mention how often these characters taking soma every time they have the chance, promoting that doing drugs are good.
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John
4/16/2013 11:06:00 am
For all those people doing Brave New World. It also mentions the orgy porgy pg 76-88. The events that happened in this section is and can be referred to the last supper and be a religious issue. It is as though the people in this ceremony is worshiping ford as though he is God and is waiting for his revival and his second coming. Just think that this might help.
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Josh Clark
4/16/2013 04:25:00 pm
I am against the banning of 1984 by George Orwell. I believe that the instances of sexual content and pro-communism ties are suitable for high school and beyond. Here are some quotes to help me defend my claims for why 1984 should not be banned.
On page 74: "Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious." I like this quote because it represents the communism aspect and how the citizens of Oceania are trapped in a reapeating cycle. The proles will never rebel until they realize they are being oppressed by the Party. But if the party is overthrown, life will still remain a mystery because all of the historical documents are false. In my opinion it serves as a lesson to be learned for all ages because Winston knows that the chances that the Party will be overthrown is slim. Getting into a deep communistic society can be a trap.
On page 177 O'Brien says "You will work for a while, you will be caught, you will confess, and then you will die... There is no possibility that any perceptible change will happen within our own lifetime. We are the dead." This quote sets the tone of the passage and signifies what the characters' perspective on life is. This is a violent quote which could seem depressing to a younger child. I believe that this qupte however is necessary for the kind of situation that Winston and the rest of the brotherhood are in. They know that the Party is too powerful, and that any mistakes will cost them their lives.
Page 16: "A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledgehammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic." This quote is referring to the two minutes hate but can be seen as very violent and wreckless to the younger population. In the book hatred is spread towards Goldstein, which can be a bad influence. Even though this quote can be misused, I believe that it represents the minds of the people and what that society is really like. After reading this you can get an idea for how crazy it really is and how mind controlled they are.
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Josh Clark
4/16/2013 04:58:39 pm
For my second book I am reading Brave New World. I chose this novel because I have found many similarities as far as theme and reasons for banning. In my opinion this book should be banned for eleventh graders in high school and below because of the sexual content and use of drugs.
Page 35: "Oh no , I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse.They're too stupid to be able to read or write." In the children's Elementary Class Consciousness the Beta children are forced to hear this while they sleep. They know that Alphas are better than them and that Delta and Epsilon children aren't as good. I don't think that eleventh graders and below should be subject to this kind of reading especially because this can mess with confidence levels and social status.
On pages 37 and 38 it talks about a naked playtime with six or seven hundred little boys and girls. I dont think this is suitable for the younger population for obvious reasons, because it is wrong and the image of children playing with eachother gives a horrible thought. One little boy is reluctant to join in the erotic play so he is questioned by the Director and later sent to see a psychologist. In the book sex is the norm which can be a bad influence especially for the high school age group.
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