Of Mice And Men Should Not Be Banned

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Of Mice and Men is a literary classic written by John Steinbeck. Set during the Great Depression in California, the book is a universal story of migrant workers experiencing poverty, loneliness, hardship and broken dreams. Although the book is highly praised for its brilliance, it also contains extremely inappropriate affairs throughout, and is a questionable choice to include in a school curriculum. "Perennially atop the Top 100 Banned Books compiled by the American Library Association, "Of Mice and Men" is often criticized for its racial slurs, profanity, vulgarity and offensive language"(Birkenbuel). Although Of Mice and Men is considered a literary classic, the book should not be included in a secondary curriculum due its many depictions of violence. The many depictions of violence in Of Mice and Men, presents violence as a way to solve problems and disputes in the undeveloped minds of teenagers. What adolescents are exposed to can mold their views on certain actions or topics. If an impressionable high school student reads about a person using violence to solve a problem, it creates the illusion that the decision to be violent or hurtful is a correct one. An example of using violence to solve a dispute in Of Mice …show more content…

A student was asked to ponder whether it should be banned, and his response was: "If it's banned because of the language in the book," said McClafferty, "I think we're old enough to understand it"(Birkenbuel). People also argue that the book is a representation of an important event in history, The Great Depression, therefore it should be included in secondary curriculum. Granted the book is a representation of history, however children themselves can not comprehend how profanity, racial slurs, vulgarity, and violence truly effect

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