Should the book "Brave New World" be banned? Why?

Question

The book talks about a utopia where people are born from machines...like cloning.
the babies are genetically alternered to become like enjoying the job they were assigned to.
Everyone is happy...it's a totaltarian government..etc. pretty disgusting book in my opinion

ok how about it being banned from schools?
like from English classes. Should teachers stop teaching students this book in public schools?

ARgh..what is this?
I only want answers to this question for a English Project i'm doing.
everyone i know hates this book and thought the author was taking drugs while writting this.
This book was on the Banned List, I'm just wondering whether it deserved to be banned because of the message it sends to the readers not english lvls and such..
If you have an answer, plz explain why :)
thank you

Answer 1

If that's all you got from the book, you weren't reading very closely. Not everyone is happy. It's a dystopian novel - depicting a society that looks perfect on the surface, but is actually a nightmare. Read it again, and this time try to see what judgments Huxley is actually making about his brave new world. Look for irony, look for criticism. If you finish the book thinking that Huxley supports the world he envisioned, then you're reading in a completely superficial way.

The society SHOULD disgust you - that's why "Brave New World" shouldn't be banned. Do you want that future? No? Then maybe other people should read about it so that they can also work toward preventing it.

It should not be banned from schools. It should be available to students at a developmentally appropriate level (say high school - it doesn't belong in a grade school library because the reading comprehension level needed is lacking at that age). It is a relevant and significant piece of literature with valuable insights on the danger of letting other people do your thinking for you. And that, exactly, is what censorship is.

Answer 2

Brave New World Banned

Answer 3

Brave New World has always been required reading in schools. Are you speaking of an actual current debate that it should be banned or are you speaking hyothetically? It is only offensive in subject matter. It describes a futuristic totalitarian government in which people are de-humanized. Having been assigned it in the 1960's, it's interesting to see how much of it has become reality in the area of scientific advancements. I'm not for censorship, although as a teacher, I support the idea that some books can be on the library shelves, but shouldn't necessarily be required in the classroom. That is what the book-banning controversy is often about. I take the whole "Banned Book Day" business with a huge grain of salt. Brave New World should be required reading.

Answer 4

No the book should not be banned and it should continue to be read by high school students.

You write that the book is "pretty disgusting", but how so? Sometimes books explore current issues or future issues within a fictional story. The book may actually be more relevant today than when it was first published.

If society restricts the material we offer to our young adults, it's hard to see where they will get the motivation to make changes, to challenge the norms.

Answer 5

While I'm not completely sure about this, from the nature of your comments about the book I believe you completely missed a major point the author is making - this utopia Huxley created is not supposed to be viewed favorably. In a way you are supposed to be disgusted by it. Individuality is surpressed just as it is in Orwell's 1984 (albeit far less drastically and militantly).
Your question is very ironic, given the subject it addresses. It actually reflects the line of thinking that is sympathetic with the ideology behind the utopias Huxley and Orwell created.

Assuming this question isn't a joke, I'll conclude by saying despite what your reaction to the book was, it should not be banned.

If you asked this question in earnest, it's not worth trying to explain to you why it shouldn't.

Answer 6

Well I agree that the way things are done in the book is a fairly horrible and controlling way - but then I think the author was remarkably perceptive - in one or two countries nowadays things aren't entirely different from the scene painted in the book's pages. And it will only get more and more like that book in the future. Very much like the other great 'it'll never happen' book - '1984' - amazing how much has come to be true these days.

Answer 7

You consider the world in Huxley's novel a utopia? That says more about you than about the book. Most intelligent readers regard Brave New World as a dystopian novel. They can see that the author is condemning, not celebrating, the society he depicts. Most students who study the book are bright enough to get that. It's a pity that you're not.

Answer 8

No book should be banned. You can find it disgusting if you want--but did it occur to you that this was the author's intent?
BTW, for another scary "this could never happen" book, try The Handmaid's Tale. See if you don't think this is the logical extension of the power the fundies already have in this country.

Answer 9

Why should anyone ban books? THere are a lot of books out there that are about absolute atrocities but we don't ban them. We read them and learn from them - what not to do and what can happen if we follow a certain path.

If you find it disgusting, don't buy it. But don't ban something because you can't handle it.

Answer 10

You may not like the concept of the book, but I don't think it should be banned because of what you think. Have you read this book? It sounds political and interesting. Maybe it has a strong message that you are missing. Censorship is wrong.