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John Steinbeck:  'Of Mice And Men'

 

 

John Steinbeck rates very highly on the list of most banned books and probably the best known of these is 'Of Mice And Men'. Outright censorship is often denied, especially in US and UK where authorities use phrases like 'inappropriate reading material', but the end result is still 'book banning and burning'.

'Of Mice And Men' is something of a spiritual parable where there is a constant struggle between good and evil. George and Lennie have a dream which puts them on a kind of quest to get themselves a plot of land but at least they have each other. The other characters in the book seem to be essentially alone. Curley is a bully and his wife, the product of years of abuse, is mean and cruel. Carlson in brutally cruel and the only person who seems to be decent is Slim, the mule driver.

This book was banned from classrooms in many American and British schools because of its profanity and vulgar language, but this seems like an attempt to feed school children nice, safe, fairytale material, instead of giving them the chance to challenge the contents of this novel and decide the rights and wrongs for themselves.

Banning a book from school classrooms and libraries is probably the best way to get it read.