Censorship in Lord of The Flies by William Golding

“Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it” were the famous words of Mark Twain. Since early times censorship has had a critical role in history. Many individuals do not understand the true meaning of censorship because they were either brought up to see it as something different or they misinterpret it from how history looks at it. It has been misconstrued by history to be seen as a negative but in reality it is meant to be positive.

What is the true meaning of censorship? “Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet or other controlling body” (wikipedia.org). It is basically the control over how much unpolished information is let out into society, to protect it from the negative effects of the information stated in the rough version.

Censorship has been used all throughout history, mainly to prevent the spread of a way of life different than what is accepted. “One of the earliest acts of state-sponsored censorship conducted for the “supposed” common good of the people came in 399 B.C. with the execution of Socrates” (randomhistory.com). The reason for his execution was corruption of the young, but really he was only inspiring a new way of thinking. His teaching drew the youth of Athens away from the traditional Greek culture. This angered the Athenian government and made them fear a revolt. To prevent (censor) his teachings from spreading they sentenced to death.

Another example in history where the government used censorship to prevent the spread of new ideas occurred about a hundred years later. ...

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...l problem with censoring is that it limits a person’s freedom of speech and thought. By not providing them with all of the different ideas or stories available, what they can think of themselves is limited. While the parents who protested Lord of the Flies may have had their children’s best interests in mind, in the end it would only hurt them. Only by allowing them to learn all that is possible will they be able to accomplish all they can and society can truly progress.

Works Cited

Sova, Dawn B. "Censorship History of Lord of the Flies." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. N p.g. Nov. 2013

"A Global History of Censorship." Guarding Public Morality: A Global History of Censorship. N p.g., 20 Mar. 2010. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.

Wikipedia contributors. "Censorship." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.