In case you haven't heard, a Mississippi school recently banned Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird because it made people "uncomfortable." The backlash they have received on social media, especially Twitter, has ranged from annoyed to hostile. Supporters of this decision are few and far between. These people are outraged for only one reason: the book warns people against racism.
As for me, I'm against banning it for so much more than that.
First, let me say that I agree, the book does tell people not to be racist. Several people have said that if the book makes you uncomfortable, you should be reading it. I also agree with that. To Kill A Mockingbird was always meant to make people question and reevaluate.
It was written through the eyes of a child so that we, the readers, could return to our own childhood innocence and then take a look at the world around us through that lens. It was meant to open our eyes and then keep them open so that we would not forget.
So if it makes people uncomfortable, it's probably because they don't like what they see when they open their eyes and that, I think, was Lee's true intention with the book all along.
But, there's more to it than just being an anti-racism book. It's also a story about people and what people will do as simply means to an end. It's about desperation and what it can drive a person to. It's about how people who are different get treated. It's the story of a little girl who is best friends with her brother, her father's biggest fan, and friend of the neighborhood outcast, Boo Radley. It's about Scout's spunk, wit, determination, bravery, and fire. It's about people, standing up for what they know is right despite the consequences to themselves because they want to change the world, even if it is just one person at a time.
Some argue that Atticus Finch isn't the good, pure hero of a character that we make him out to be because he makes black people seem really one sided and like they need the defense of the white man. I can see where you're coming from, but also, I have to ask, at what personal cost does Atticus do what he thinks is right in defending Tom Robinson?
Take a step back from the colors of their skin and really look at the situation. Atticus Finch is a well-liked man in town because he's a really good guy. He has two young children that are the only family he has left after the tragic and untimely death of his wife. He is the sole provider for them, meaning that he needs his law office to stay open and he needs to stay in favor in the town so that people will use his services. This is his life. Enter the falsely accused Tom Robinson.
The whole town is against him, but he's falsely accused. And Atticus can't let that go without a good fight (like father, like daughter, right?). So he defends the outcast, the scapegoat. He has to personally stand guard at his office so that it isn't burned to the ground with Tom inside.
His children are nearly killed by his insane opponents in this court case despite the fact that the case is over and he lost.
Remember what we said his entire life was comprised of? His kids, his business, and his reputation in the town. And just like that, because he stood up for what he knew was right, he nearly lost all of it.
He would've still been living in the sense that he could breathe without these things, but is it not a much crueler fate to live without the things that make life worth it in the first place than to just die? Atticus Finch risked everything he had to do what he thought was the right thing. And that is why this book is important.
That is why it should never be banned.
I'm a literature lover and, personally, I don't think that any book should ever be banned. Books are written to be read. That is their purpose. They each have a story to tell and a voice that tells it. They are an experience that we can all share in some way, despite where we come from or where we're going.
Banning them kills that. It kills culture and unity and voice and plain, simple, pure imagination.
Banning To Kill A Mockingbird also bans the messages it tries to give us: to reject hate, to act in love whatever the consequences to yourself might be, and to stand up for what is right always - even if it might cost you everything.
