Ban 'Brave New World' For Progressive Reasons? No Way

A parent of a child in the Seattle school system is raising a ruckus over a book that's not unfamiliar to the Banned Book List: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

Her choice of book may be quite common, but the reason Lisa Sense-Wilson wants the book banned is quite new. Not because of its sexual content or because it challenges ideas about religion. But because Sense-Wilson says the book's depiction of "savages" upset her daughter.

If you haven't read Brave New World in awhile, let me refresh your memory. Huxley takes us to a futuristic "utopia" where no one has children of their own, everyone is divided into castes, and the whole population exists on a wonder-drug called "soma" which makes everyone blissfully happy. At one point, a few of the characters take a vacation to a "savage reservation," to see people who resemble a Native American tribe that still does "beastly" things - mainly, read books and have families.

They left having an image of Indian people as being criminals," said Sense-Wilson. "That we're to be feared. That we're scary. That we hold these ceremonies that are animalistic and brutal and violent."

She says the students in her daughter's class weren't able to grasp the fact that the "savages" in Huxley's book are actually portrayed as heroes in a way - strange outcasts from a "perfect" society that has many disturbing problems.

She's right - some of the kids in her daughter's class probably don't get what's going on in the book. In early adolescence, kids don't always have the cognitive ability for abstract thinking that makes complex metaphors like Huxley's come alive. Just like some kids will never understand why Animal Farm isn't just about animals, or that C.S. Lewis' Narnia has serious religious overtones. That doesn't mean we need to ban books just because we're too afraid to push our students, have uncomfortable conversations, and take the risk that everyone might not end up thinking the same way.

If Sense-Wilson's daughter was offended, I think that's great. That intense emotion can be an awesome jumping off point for a lot of conversations - both about their Native American heritage and also about what to do when you're faced with something that makes you uncomfortable.

But to react by taking one of the top 100 novels of the 20th century out of the reach of young minds is absurd.

Just because Brave New World is banned doesn't mean her daughter's classmates will have automatic positive associations with Native Americans. Too many years of sports teams, cartoons and terrifying American history have left many of us with stereotypes and prejudice. If Sense-Wilson wants to foster a positive image of Native Americans, she should find a way to do that.

Sense-Wilson already got the book removed from her daughter's school. Don't let censorship lead to the Seattle school district banning the book entirely: sign this Change.org petition to keep the book on the shelves. Banning a book is banning a book - it doesn't matter the reason. If we as progressives shout at conservatives when they seek to cover up, censor and ban what they don't like, we must trust a fair and open society where our children are well-read, critical thinkers and able to decide for themselves.

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