Friday, 11 March 2011

Should literature that provokes strong reactions be banned?

I really don't think that books should be banned due to the reactions they create.  If anything, they should be promoted.  They can make you consider things that you wouldn't regularly think about.  In Slaughterhouse Five, you get to see things from one soldiers point of view.  Based on what I've heard, most veterans refuse to talk about their experiences for quite sometime after they return, if they choose to talk about it at all.  The memories haunt them for the rest of their lives.  Many over look this, and while I agree that the soldiers should be celebrated for their bravery, war should not. 

Banning literature also, technically, would go against the right of free speech.  Especially with one like Slaughterhouse Five, where a soldier is basically reminiscing.  How could they take away his right to talk about some of his experiences?  He is celebrated and honoured for being a soldier, but as soon as he tells the public what he believes war really is, they ban his novel and basically tell him to shut-up about it and deal with the memories on his own and in private.