Awareness is always the first step for shielding the damage done by ignorance. Physical abuse, substance abuse, and sex are the stark challenges for the modern society and the most appropriate sense of precaution can be developed by the power of awareness about these issues prevalent in the modern society . “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie is a book that has been sought by parents to be banned in the USA. In his article, “Darkness Too Visible”, author Meghan Cox Gurdon has professed the ban of this book as the content of the book is considered to be too explicit. However, the young readers across the nation are actually negating the act of censorship of their education through this ban. This essay aims at refuting the Gurdon’s view by providing enough supporting views regarding the importance of the book’s content for the modern day students, so as to prevent the ban on the book.
Gurdon’s rationale behind his support for the ban of the book is based on some his observations. Firstly, the use of too much ‘dark content’ in the novel makes it unfit for reading . In terms of the evidence presented by using the term “dark matter, Gurdon implies the inclusion of too much gore, brutality, and sexual violence which are considered to be anti-Christian in terms of their profanity (Gurdon,"Darkness too visible"). Further, Gurdon has specifically called for a counterargument against the supporters of the book by presenting a claim that the use of too much violence and brutality in books can expose the students to a psychologically influenced state where they can start pretending to be a part of such world themselves. On the contrary, Sherman Alexie has given a different explanation for the profusion of the dark content in his book, which in turn, presents a counterargument to Gurdon’s view.
Sherman Alexie , the author of the book has also expressed his views in the support of his book. Alexie, in his article named “Why the Best Kids’ Books Are Written in Blood”, has given his rationale behind presenting his autobiographical account via his book. The evidence for his true instinct behind the content lies in his rationale to use the dark content for educating the students. The prime rationale behind presenting such dystopic content in his novel is explained as the need of educating the teens regarding the harsh realities and hardships of those individuals who come from such neglected backgrounds into a world of racially biased society(Alexie ,"Why the Best Kids’ Books Are Written in Blood"). His views can be summarized as the urgent need of preventing the victimization of the racially and socially oppressed youth by educating them about the heinous reality of life in the current times (Zuckerman,"Idaho School System Removes Book From Curriculum After Parental Outrage"). Alexie’s article is definitely a counterargument to the Gurdon’s view of advocating the ban of the book for its dark content.
Further to the Gurdon’s view for the well-deserved ban on the book, he challenged the statement by Alexie on this issue in which he said that the content of his book was way less than what the students were exposed to via the internet. Gurdon opposed this by saying that depravity of a harmful source in terms of the dark content can not serve as a justification for the validity of the another one(Gurdon,"Darkness too visible"). He dismissed the comparison of the two media (books and internet) in terms of their dark content by saying that the exposure of children to the dark content via the internet was a fault of their parents who could not effectively monitor their children’s actions(Gurdon,"Darkness too visible"). Thus, Gurdon’s rationale behind favoring the ban of the book can be deduced to be entirely based on the dilapidating impact of the dark content presented in the book.
The most obvious counterargument to Gurdon’s views on supporting the ban of the book can be given by refuting his core argument in which he considered the role of dark content in specifically misguiding the young readers to the vices of the society. The second aspect of exposing the students to the harsh realities of life can be a medium to increase their awareness about the various situations that can lead to disastrous consequences in life like those of physical abuse, substance abuse, etc. (Alexie,"Why the Best Kids’ Books Are Written in Blood"). This can be ratified to be the prime intention implied by Alexie behind narrating his autobiographical account through a fiction novel.
The essay started with a thesis of refuting Gurdon’s views by providing enough supporting ideas regarding the importance of the book’s content for the modern day students. Different views were collected as evidence to evaluate both sides of the views in this regard. The most crucial aspect of the detestable ‘dark content’ was its gory and bloody content. This idea was refuted by explaining Alexie’s views regarding the relative importance of exposing the truth to the students and relative modesty of his content with respect to that exposed via the internet. It is obvious that censorship on educational content can definitely evade the chances of getting acquainted with the bitter truth and associated risk for the students. Concluding, it can be said that the book should not be banned because, for young students, the chances of committing errors are always high when people tend to explore these social vices due to their curiosity.
Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. "Why the Best Kids’ Books Are Written in Blood".2011. Web. 25 May, 2016.
Gurdon, M.Cox. "Darkness too visible".2011. Web. 25 May, 2016.
Zuckerman, Laura. "Idaho School System Removes Book From Curriculum After Parental Outrage". The Huffington Post.2014. Web. 25 May, 2016.
