These ten books have faced bans across schools, libraries, and in some cases, entire countries. Each entry shows where the ban originated and the themes that led to it, often the very ideas that make these works so powerful. I had a lot of fun uncovering quotes within each text that, intentionally or not, respond directly to the act of censorship. Once celebrated as literary greats, these books have become even more meaningful because of the attempts to silence them. As Oscar Wilde put it, “The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.” The themes across these titles certainly echo that sentiment.
At the time of writing, I’ve read about half of them. My plan is to backdate before continuing through the rest within this blog.
1984
Alias: George Orwell
Known Offences: Sexual content, anti-government themes
Most Warrants: Florida, Washington
Alibi: “…always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.”
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Alias: Mark Twain
Known Offences: Racial issues, profanity
Most Warrants: Massachusetts, Texas
Alibi: “That is just the way with some people. They get down on a thing when they don’t know nothing about it.”
“Hain’t we got all the fools in town on our side? And hain’t that a big enough majority in any town?”
The Catcher in the Rye
Alias: J.D. Salinger
Offences: Profanity, sexual references, anti-authority, unsuited for age group
Most Warrants: Washington, Texas, Missouri
Alibi: “when you’re not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write “Fuck you” right under your nose.”
“…you’re not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior…Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You’ll learn from them – if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.”
The Color Purple
Alias: Alice Walker
Known Offences: Sexual content, violence, racial issues, profanity
Most Warrants: Michigan, Virginia, North Carolina
Textual Irony: “A grown child is a dangerous thing.”
“Why any woman give a shit what people think is a mystery to me.”
The Great Gatsby
Alias: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Offences: Profanity, sexual references, alcohol and drug use
Most Warrants: South Carolina, Idaho
Alibi: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.” (Fitzgerald)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Alias: Maya Angelou
Offences: Rape, racial issues, teen pregnancy, sexual content
Most Warrants: Texas, Colorado, Alabama
Alibi: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Lord of the Flies
Alias: William Golding
Offences: Violence, disturbing imagery, sexual content, racism, profanity
Most Warrants: North Carolina, Iowa, Texas, New York
Alibi: “The rules!…you’re breaking the rules!”
“Who cares?”
Of Mice and Men
Alias: John Steinbeck
Offences: Profanity, racism, ‘vulgarity’, violence
Most Warrants: Tennessee, Illinois, Michigan
Alibi: “Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Alias: Ken Kesey
Offences: Profanity, sexual content, disrespect for authority, corrupts youth
Most Warrants: New York, Oklahoma, Ohio
Alibi: “Rules? PISS ON YOUR FUCKING RULES!”
“If you don’t watch it people will force you one way or the other, into doing what they think you should do, or into just being mule-stubborn and doing the opposite out of spite.”
To Kill a Mockingbird
Alias: Harper Lee
Offences: Racism, racial issues, rape, ‘white saviour’ criticisms, profanity
Most Warrants: Mississippi, Virginia, California, Minnesota
Textual Irony: “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”
More Marginalised Material
The Literary Fringe 