Every word matters. Every word has a purpose. Words carry distinct meanings and serve to define specific ideas. The slightest alterations in words add or take away from specific elements within distinct ideas.
Censorship has been a topic of controversy—especially in schools—that has resulted in both banning and altering of texts available to people. Roald Dahl, a British author with 19 childrens books, has sold over 300 million copies of his texts worldwide, allowing his books such as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “James and the Giant Peach,” and “Matilda” to reach and influence widespread audiences. Controversy over Roald Dahl books has increased recently as hundreds of word changes were made in his well-known children’s books.
Although these alterations are intended to create extra caution towards ideas that readers may find offensive, they are limiting the opportunities to learn and improve society based on historical flaws. This lack of exposure to historical texts that may be found offensive is, in reality, the opposite of progress because people need exposure to historical flaws in order to continuously improve society.
Alterations have been made in areas relating to race, gender, weight and mental health, as well as towards references to harmful behaviors such as drugs, alcohol and violence. Although these topics can be difficult for some younger readers, censoring these words and ideas limits the exploration and curiosity they enable.
Carissa McDonald, a librarian at Pleasant Valley, believes that censoring these books limits some of the inquisitiveness of readers. “A book stands as what it was. If there’s language or issues that make a reader uncomfortable, those are good conversations to have.”
Typically when alterations are made, the intention is to make the language more inclusive and help readers feel more comfortable with the texts they are reading. Recent edits to Roald Dahl texts include changing “enormously fat” to enormous and “ugly and beastly” to beastly. By removing these words the connotation of the texts is shifting from more negative to neutral. However, the discomfort and feelings that arise within a reader when reading texts that have negative words can be helpful for understanding what deeper message is being developed and how these negative words enhance a story and affect society.
However the questions that form when reading books that have language or issue that a reader has not yet been exposed to allows for growth in their perspective.
Alterations to text are common when books are adapted into movies. When a book is adapted to a modern audience, it is taken out of the historical context in which the book was published, and many additional people are involved, including directors, actors and screenwriters. However, when the alterations are made to a text itself after time has passed, it gives rise to concerns about censorship.
Texts written during a specific time period also add an increased insight to historical events. The original words used in a book are the original words that audiences of that time period used, so reading the same language gives further understanding and opportunities for analysis as to why society was the way it was and how it has evolved over time.
Margil Sanchez-Carmona is an avid reader and a member of the Pleasant Valley Ethics Bowl team. Carmona feels there is great value in the original texts, whether or not the ideas are negative. “Whether it’s good or bad, it can show a flaw in the author’s morality, or an intentional societal flaw the author is advising against. Even if it is elementary level literature, words can always be used as positive or negative influences and it’s better to emphasize those influences in positive ways than to erase their positively negative roots all together,” Carmona stated.
Many changes have been made in society overtime as values and norms have shifted. This makes the practice of reading literature that makes us uncomfortable even more important. It shows readers why things changed and how to continue improving as a society.
Implementing age recommendations and caution on books that may contain uncomfortable or offensive topics is a practice that can allow for books to reach readers at the right time. “Librarians and teachers know some books aren’t appropriate for younger readers, so some books just won’t be present in elementary school libraries,” Carmona continued.
As text perception varies amongst age, it also varies amongst countries. “What a British audience sees as offensive might be different from what an American audience views as offensive,” said McDonald. There is a wide variety for how people perceive certain words and ideas based on the culture, perspective and experiences.
As maturity and experience varies between different readers, recommendations can help guide readers towards appropriate texts. Banning texts, however, limits the curiosity and discomfort that creates growth in readers.
Books are written in the context of history and by reading texts from different points, backgrounds and cultures, individuals have the opportunity to learn and expand their perspectives. Censoring Dahl’s books, and in turn removing opportunities for children to grow, would be a grave mistake.
