AP #2 Forbidden books The Outsiders

Intro

For my Forbidden books class we learned about censorship and how it affects society. Some books we read were Fahrenheit 451, The absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and the Outsiders. At one point all these books were banned. We also learned about the types of people to ban these types of books and that was really interesting it see their reasoning behind this. One of our FEs we meet this author who got her book banned from prisons. She told us how she was shocked about how this happened and her book was in a list of thing which were a lot more offensive. The other FE we went on was to a bookstore called Women and Children First. this was a kind of left wing bookstore that had a lot of books about gay rights and other stuff like that. One big thing that was banned was a book about Donald Trump that he didn't want published and they sold it there. I found this class to be very interesting.

AP #2 Forbidden books

GCE Lab school

The Outsiders 

Drug abuse and violence. It's interesting to think that's something so common to see on TV nowadays can cause a whole book to be banned. This book, The Outsiders took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1965 but this is never stated in the book. The main character Ponyboy, is attacked by a group of Socs, which are the greaser’s rivals. These are the the the rich kids who life on the west side. The Socs, gang up on Ponyboy. Then they threaten to slit his throat.One night Ponyboy and his brother Darry (who kind of raised him) got into a big fight and Darry slaps Ponyboy and then Ponyboy runs away. When he was out he ran into some Socs in a park and got into a fight with them. Johnny who is a friend saves ponyboy from being drowned by killing one of them. After this they go to a guy named Dally who gives them money and a gun. He also told them that there is a church that they should hid out in. they stayed there for a few days until johnny decided it would be better if he just turned himself in. On the way out the church caught on fire and there were some kids in there. These kids were not greasers or Socs they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So Ponyboy saves them but gets knocked out doing so. Johnny killing the Soc raised the tensions a lot higher and both sides were just waiting for something to happen.then darry the guy who helped johnny and Ponyboy hide robbed a store. The police ended up killing Darry because he wouldn't surrender.Also johnny died in gang fight which caused Ponyboy to pass out. When he woke up he had an agreement to stick with his brother Darry.When Ponyboy goes to school for his paper he writes this story. The theme to this book is to stay loyal to your brothers and the close ones around you and to not betray them. This book was considered to be controversial because it contained violence and drug and alcohol abuse and kids that came from broken homes. This book was banned for reasons that are common themes of books and TV shows now.


This book has been very controversial. George Washington Elementary a school is Eleanor West Virginia banned this book in 2001 because it promoted gang activity, and they didn't want to show kids this in a book and for them to think that it is ok. This book’s diversity mainly covers socioeconomic boundaries because of the Socs and the Greasers. The Greasers don't have money and the Socs do. “We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too”(Hinton 4 ) But there is not real evidence of racial diversity in this book. Over the years alot have books have been banned by the government to keep the people from not knowing what that author believes and thinks about a certain concept. The first book that was ever banned was in 259 B.C. by The Emperor of china about Confucius' writings. Some books have been banned because of racist reasons like the book The Color Purple. There are some books about the whole idea of book banning and how it could affect the future. Fahrenheit 451 is a good example of a distorien time where books have been banned. Even books like the Breakfast Club were banned because of use of drugs. These were banned because the government thought it would be better if the general populous didn't have these books for many different reasons.     


Next, some people found some content in the book to be offensive. There is quite a bit of violence in this story. One instance is when Ponyboy is jumped when walking home from the movies by himself. A knife was held to his throat "How'd you like that haircut to begin just below the chin?"( Hinton 6). This was said to Ponyboy by a Soc with the knife against his neck. This type of violence is bad to promote to a young audience and could definitely be seen as too violent for some. Another example of this book being offensive is the talk of drugs and alcohol. Everyone smokes in the book and it is mentioned quite a bit and a few get drunk also. There are references to getting “smashed” or ”stoned”. "When we stomp the Socs good, me and Stevie here are gonna throw a big party and everybody can get stoned. Then we'll go chase the Socs clear to Mexico" ( Hinton 93). Some people didn't want this book promoting these habits of smoking or drinking to a teenage audience who would read something like this. Even though it is around a lot today they had more censorship back in 1960s. Most of this was about the socio economic differences between the Socs and the greasers. A quote from SE hinton is "I think The Outsiders was meant to be written, and I was just meant to write it" I could imagine her frustration after having her book banned because she is so sure that this book had to be written which is a cool way to think of it.

Finally, my opinion on the matter at hand. Truly that this book should not be banned. Every book should be able to be read if the reader wishes to. No one should tell someone what someone can and cannot read it should always be up to them. Someone can understand why some people thought that the violence and the alcohol and drug abuse were a reason to ban it. If one were a parent would they make this book be an example of the type of things that do not promote a successful lifestyle ? Another reason why this book should be banned is that teens should be exposed to these things at an age when they are mature enough to make the right decision. Now censorship is not a good thing but common sense is. No one wouldn't make a 4th grade class read this but anyone in 8th grade of above can handle this and can learn a lot though this.

So basically this book shouldn't have been banned. Although it talks about some mature content like drugs, alcohol ,and violence it shouldn't be not read. If one does not want to hear about any of those topic it is simple as just not reading it. Every book should be able to read if wanted to.  


Work Cited


“Banned Books: Young Adult Novels.” From McFarlin Tower, 13 Mar. 2014, orgs.utulsa.edu/spcol/?p=3254.





BIEDENHARN, ISABELLA. “'The Outsiders' 50th Anniversary: S.E. Hinton on the Book's Legacy.” EW.com, 24 Apr. 17AD, ew.com/books/2017/04/24/the-outsiders-anniversary-s-e-hinton/.





http://nisbah.com/summer_reading/the-outsiders_se_hinton.pdf





Parr, Ali. “12 Fascinating Facts About S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders.” Mental Floss, 25 Jan. 2018, mentalfloss.com/article/62766/11-fascinating-facts-about-s-e-hintons-outsiders-its-50th-anniversary.

Wolf , Ryan. “Banned Books Awareness: The Outsiders.” World Leading Higher Education Information and Services, 9 May 2011, world.edu/banned-books-awareness-outsiders/.

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.".” Flickr, Yahoo!, 1 Mar. 2009, www.flickr.com/photos/theeerin/3319626950