Of Mice and Men

To Ban or Not To Ban

John Steinbeck was born on February 27th, 1902, in California, and his family descendants were of German, Irish, and English descent. His family was farmers, and for most of his life, he worked on a farm while attending Standford University. Later he left Standford without a degree in 1925 and traveled to New York, where he tried to write while working various jobs. After trying to publish his work countless times thought a few years, he later gave up in 1928 and moved back to California to work as a caretaker and a tour guide. In 1929, he successfully published his first novel, Cup of Gold. Then in the following months, he met his first wife-to-be and married in 1930 in Los Angeles.

He wrote a few more published novels; however, none gained traction entail 1935 when “Tortilla Flat” came out and was about post-war Monterey. That Novel went on to win him California Commonwealth Cubs Gold Metal. After a few more novels and stories, he wrote his next hit, Of Mice and Men, which was about two migrants that arrive at a farm in call Fiona for work. This work also had a movie made about its story. Another thing is that the book was also banned from most schools because of its contents containing racism, vulgar words and acts, and how women were treated. This banning, however, restricts Americans’ rights to freedom of speech and expression.

Carrying on the wave of his previous success in 1939, he wrote, The Grapes of Wrath, which became one of the best-selling books in 1939 and won him the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. This book was also banned from American schools too. He kept writing entail 1968 when he passed away due to heart failure. Later on, in 1969, his ash was buried in the Gardens of Memories cemetery.

The story Of Mice and Men is about two migrating ranch workers in Salina, California, exploring the themes of isolation and loneliness. One of the migrates a typical hard work that looks over the other migrate that has many challenges. At one point in time, the typical hard work comes close to getting rid of his challenged friend, but he later decides not to. On the farm, they both work with other people that were the primary workers of the farm and aren’t treated nicely by the farm owners. Many violent acts are depicted, add the story contains many slurs.

According to Marshall Libraries, in 1948, schools in Montana had “administrators stopped lessons on John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men” due to the inappropriate langue that the book contains (MARSHALL LIBRARIES). However, when the book uses langue that is considered inappropriate, it follows a notion where the bigger and more correct picture is made about the treated people received at the farm. Furthermore, it was more of the racial remarks that made the story ban the use of inappropriate words (MARSHALL LIBRARIES). Following the ban, many other schools around the United States started debating whether they should ban the book or let it stay on the shelves.

Not only did the United States and had some states ban this book, but also other countries like Irland ban this book in 1953 for its use of “vulgar language” (Classics). To this day, the banning or unbanning of the story Of Mice and Men still gets tossed around the school throughout the country; fortunate Florida keeps the book unbanned as of 2023. Furthermore, the book is banned mostly for its vulgar language, but the debate about banning the book also brings up scenes with violent acts in them too. Therefore, the Banning of “Of Mice and Men” is for the violent acts within the story and the racial/vulgar langue.

The Banning should not be

According to Maryville Pawprint, “Banning books has the potential to create gaps in knowledge for young learners” this states that banning books leaves gaps between what the old generation knows and what the young generation knows (Chiesa). The banning of “Of Mice and Men” is just downright unconstitutional because it depicts the truth of events of things that happen and the langue that was used at that time. Plus, the book does not try and make its readers act, talk, or behave like the characters in the book. Therefore, the book is merely for entertainment and informational purposes, and since it does not convince readers to act out, it should not be banned. If the book is banned, it’s done against the Americans; God gives amendments, which is unjust.

In 1939 on December 30, John Stenbeck got a movie abduction for his book Of Mice and Men, and not only was the movie popular the first edition of the book sold 500,000 copies. These numbers of sales were outstanding for the time period. Even with the book being banned from particular schools overall, the book still did great plus; there was a remake of the movie in 1992. Overall, Books should not be banned no matter what the contents are unless it is trying to lead people to act or do terrible things. Therefore, Of Mice and Men should not be banned in any school because the book entertains and inform.

References

classroom/#:~:text=Banning%20books%20has%20a%20ripple,in%20knowledge%20for%20young%20learners.>.

Classics, Banned & Challenged. American Library Association. 26 3 2013. website. 2023 27 3. <http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics >.

MARSHALL LIBRARIES. 2022. 27 3 2023. <https://www.marshall.edu/library/bannedbooks/of-mice-and-men/#:~:text=Paul%2C%20MN)%20administrators%20stopped%20lessons,of%20the%20ninth%2Dgrade%20curriculum.>.

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