How many times have you heard someone say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, probably too many times to count. But as cliche as this saying is, it doesn’t stop people from doing so. To begin with, more and more people today have been assuming things about books that aren’t true. Parents and teachers have been automatically coming to the conclusion that certain books should be banned due to their content. An example of an book that has been banned in a couple of schools is, “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls. This memoir is looked down upon due to its amount of truth incorporated into the writing. Walls goes through a very tough childhood, and people have been expressing their opinions about her writing in inappropriate ways. I must agree that some of the events that occur in the book are disturbing and also heartbreaking, but don’t forget heartwarming too. I believe that the banning of this outstanding book, and a lot of other books too, is completely ridiculous and unfair to the writers and the readers.
To begin with, the book “The Glass Castle” is a memoir. A memoir is a book that is about real events that happened to the writer. People shouldn’t have the right to take their opinions out on authors if the genre is displayed very clearly on the cover. When I first picked up this book, the first thing I noticed was that it was a memoir, meaning that all that I was about to read was true. It's a reader picks up a book, especially a memoir, he/she should know what they are getting into. But if one doesn’t notice the clearly-labeled genre, they have really lost the right to complain about the content. Perhaps some books may have different levels of appropriateness, that is the reader’s responsibility to figure out from the first couple of pages. As emotionally difficult Walls’ childhood was, it doesn't hurt less to have people hate on your story. Although some of the language and messages can be upsetting, they are things that people need to know exist and could happen to anyone and everyone. In the book it says, “ ‘It's not such a bad life,’ Mom told us after we'd been homeless for a couple of months.” This quote demonstrates how difficult of a lifestyle Walls and her family faced. Some parents might want to keep their children tucked away and hidden from all of the problems in the world. But that can only last for so long. Someday, all children will be exposed to all of the issues people are facing, and their mommys won’t be there to protect them. Walls is just doing the nobel job of showing young readers the how the real world really is. By banning a book from a school, doesn’t mean you’re getting rid of the problem once and for all, you are simply delaying the conversation between you and your kid about what really goes on in some households. Banning books is an ill-advised plan to keep children from seeing the truth as is really is, not sugarcoated life most of their information is.
Not only are the rules of banning books completely insane, but they are useless too. If someone tells you you can’t chew gum in school, that only makes you want to do so more. If someone tells you not to talk during class, that only makes you want to do so more. So what happens if someone tells you that you can’t read this book… I think you can guess. Jeannette Walls once said, “ ‘Sometimes you have to walk through the muck to get to the message. What I worry is that in order to protect students, we may be taking away the tools they need to protect themselves later on.’ ” Walls knows the downside of hiding readers from the experience of reading about her lifestyle and the struggles she faced. Walls is doing everyone who reads her memoir a favor by explaining in detail, maybe a little too much detail, the issues she faced growing up. By telling her sad story she is helping others understand the issues others face in a scenario that isn’t as good as their current one. In her memoir, Walls once said, “ ‘Not everything can be amazing the first time, sometimes it takes awhile to get something worth saving’ ” This quote really describes the problems that Walls faced daily. But in the back of her mind, she knew that one day, everything will turn out okay. This line was thrown into the book to give the reader a little hope between all of the gruesome stories that are told. But truthfully, you can go far with just this simple string of words. Everyone will have their ups and downs in their life, but it is how you deal with them is key. This is the message Walls tried to send to her readers as they read the tale of the life.
To sum up, in a couple of words, banning books is useless and a completely faulty idea. These so called “banned books” contain stories and messages that everyone should learn about. An example of these useless banned books as some people call it, is the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This book is so heartwarming and heartbreaking. Parents believe that they should hide these messages and events from their children in hopes of never having to break the innocence of them. Honestly, the world has flaws and ignoring them is just going to make them worse. Jeannette Walls says the one idea that helped her get up in the morning and face the world was, “ After all, everyone needs a few flaws to make them real”.
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