The school board in Mc Minn, Tennessee had it again. It has proven a simple principle when you try to ban a book with little reason or rhyme. Oh they have their reasons, of course. They find it too objectionable because it contains a few 4 letter words like damn and one of the characters (all are depicted as mice or cats) appears to be nude.
The principle they so ignorantly underscored is that when you try to ban a book,especially from young people, you ensure that it will be a best-seller. That's why Maus, Art Spigelman's brilliant graphic novel about his parents Holocaust experience in Auchwitz has hit the number one slot on Amazon sales currently. The book is used in curriculum from grade 8 through 12. It pulls no punches; it is accurate history and it's relevance couldn't be more well-timed these days.
Of course, this noble school board probably does not see the irony in banning a book about the Holocaust. In their drive to protect their young scholars, all they have done is made them curious. That's a good thing.
In the aftermath of this story, various interpretations have come to the fore of just why this book has suddenly become so controversial. One writer suggests that there is no happy ending. There is only a sad tale of human inhumanity that leaves one empty. Sometimes that's just how it goes. But not in one Tennessee county. Others have suggested that the fact that the novel offers no redemption, as in Christian literature, seems to be the cause of its controversy.
I've read Maus. Both volumes. I've also seen it used in classrooms where it is eagerly embraced because it is a graphic novel. Aside from students who have trouble reading long sections of text, the drawings appeal to visual learners and aid in developing and enhancing the visceral nature of the subject matter.
Teachers and parents who encounter myopic school boards might well worry about these uninformed, useless attempts to control the curriculum. They will never work. People will find things especially if they know you don't want them to. That's simple. The bigger issue is, however, what does it mean when a culture tries to "protect" it's members from the truth. If the Holocaust tells us anything it tells us we must be careful and act early on to stop all attempts at Fascism. Even if those making the attempts are clueless that they are repeating an evil history.
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