Fifty years ago, a young high school English teacher in Drake, N.D., assigned his students to read Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, “Slaughterhouse Five.”
“Slaughterhouse Five” was one of my favorite books growing up. I read it in high school and again in college. It’s the only semi-autobiographical story about time travel, alien abduction, and the allied firebombing of Dresden I’ve ever read. Never a dull moment.
Vonnegut was a POW in Dresden and survived the attack hiding below ground in a slaughterhouse, hence the book’s title. Filling in for Vonnegut is the book’s protagonist, Billy Pilgrim. The opening line of the novel informs us he’s “come unstuck in time.”
Vonnegut has Iowa ties. During the mid-1960s, he taught at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa. His work with some of the great writers of the day was a professional turning point for Vonnegut, who published “Slaughterhouse Five” in 1967.
But in 1973, the head of the Drake School Board, Charles McCarthy, didn’t think much of Vonnegut’s book. He ordered all 32 copies of the book handed out to students confiscated and burned in a school furnace. There’s some sex in the book and adult language. But I’m betting what bugged old Charlie the most is the fact “Slaughterhouse Five” is an anti-war novel.
So the books were burned amid protests from students. Vonnegut was clearly angry when he penned a letter to McCarthy dated Nov. 16, 1973. It’s, sadly, as relevant today as it was when he wrote it.
“If you were to bother to read my books, to behave as educated persons would, you would learn that they are not sexy, and do not argue in favor of wildness of any kind. They beg that people be kinder and more responsible than they often are,” Vonnegut wrote.
Later in the letter, he wrote, “I read in the newspaper that your community is mystified by the outcry from all over the country about what you have done. Well, you have discovered that Drake is a part of American civilization, and your fellow Americans can’t stand it that you have behaved in such an uncivilized way. Perhaps you will learn from this that books are sacred to free men for very good reasons, and that wars have been fought against nations which hate books and burn them. If you are an American, you must allow all ideas to circulate freely in your community, not merely your own.
“If you and your board are now determined to show that you in fact have wisdom and maturity when you exercise your powers over the education of your young, then you should acknowledge that it was a rotten lesson you taught young people in a free society when you denounced and then burned books — books you hadn’t even read. You should also resolve to expose your children to all sorts of opinions and information, in order that they will be better equipped to make decisions and to survive.
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“Again: you have insulted me, and I am a good citizen, and I am very real,” Vonnegut concludes.
So why do I recount this saga now? Because Republicans who run Iowa have come unstuck in time, or at least unstuck from American values. We still aren’t listening to Vonnegut.
Republican lawmakers passed and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 496, which directs schools to remove books or materials from libraries and curriculum that depict a “sex act.” Sure, there’s a list of sex acts in the Iowa Code, but what does depiction mean, exactly.
That vagueness is a feature, not a flaw. The more confused school officials become trying to follow the law, the better chance they’ll cast a wide net and remove books just to be safe.
The biter fruits of their labor are being harvested this fall. The Des Moines Register sent out requests for book removal lists from every school district in Iowa and is building a database to track removals. So far, only 24 districts have responded, and they’ve removed hundreds of books.
“Slaughterhouse Five” has been removed from the shelves in seven Iowa school districts, according to the Register’s database, including Forest City, Martensdale-St. Mary’s, Nevada, Sigourney, Waverly—Shell Rock, West Des Moines and Winterset.
In Iowa City, a UNESCO City of Literature, the school district has slated 68 books for removal. The list doesn’t include “Slaughterhouse Five,” but does include works such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood.
The books are not headed for the furnace. At least, not yet. I only wish Vonnegut was still alive to tell our so-called leaders what he thinks about censorship.
Backers of the bill say we can’t expose the kids to sex acts! And yes, I agree there are books out there that should not be offered for teenage consumption. Don’t ask me for titles. I don’t want to give them any ideas.
But, once again, this really isn’t about sex. It’s about burying ideas and worldviews disliked by our conservative crusaders and moms claiming to be for liberty. That’s why so many of the books being removed are written by LGBTQ authors and people of color, exploring discrimination, racism and other concepts that might make kids, or, God forbid, their parents, uncomfortable.
And you’d better pull “The Handmaid’s Tale” before the courts uphold GOP-backed draconian restrictions on abortion. Nothing to see here, kids.
There’s a lot of talk of preserving kids “innocence.” But really, it’s preserving ignorance of the world they’ll soon be inheriting. Boy, aren’t they going to be surprised when they find out preserving their comfort is not a big priority.
Then they’ll know this whole sad saga is a rotten lesson to teach kids in a free society. I still can’t believe this is happening in Iowa. Perhaps I’m stuck in time, in the Iowa that used to cherish education, freedom of speech and freedom of expression. I’m not ready to give it up.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
“Slaughterhouse Five” was one of my favorite books growing up. I read it in high school and again in college. It’s the only semi-autobiographical story about time travel, alien abduction, and the allied firebombing of Dresden I’ve ever read. Never a dull moment.
Vonnegut was a POW in Dresden and survived the attack hiding below ground in a slaughterhouse, hence the book’s title. Filling in for Vonnegut is the book’s protagonist, Billy Pilgrim. The opening line of the novel informs us he’s “come unstuck in time.”
Vonnegut has Iowa ties. During the mid-1960s, he taught at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa. His work with some of the great writers of the day was a professional turning point for Vonnegut, who published “Slaughterhouse Five” in 1967.
But in 1973, the head of the Drake School Board, Charles McCarthy, didn’t think much of Vonnegut’s book. He ordered all 32 copies of the book handed out to students confiscated and burned in a school furnace. There’s some sex in the book and adult language. But I’m betting what bugged old Charlie the most is the fact “Slaughterhouse Five” is an anti-war novel.
So the books were burned amid protests from students. Vonnegut was clearly angry when he penned a letter to McCarthy dated Nov. 16, 1973. It’s, sadly, as relevant today as it was when he wrote it.
“If you were to bother to read my books, to behave as educated persons would, you would learn that they are not sexy, and do not argue in favor of wildness of any kind. They beg that people be kinder and more responsible than they often are,” Vonnegut wrote.
Later in the letter, he wrote, “I read in the newspaper that your community is mystified by the outcry from all over the country about what you have done. Well, you have discovered that Drake is a part of American civilization, and your fellow Americans can’t stand it that you have behaved in such an uncivilized way. Perhaps you will learn from this that books are sacred to free men for very good reasons, and that wars have been fought against nations which hate books and burn them. If you are an American, you must allow all ideas to circulate freely in your community, not merely your own.
“If you and your board are now determined to show that you in fact have wisdom and maturity when you exercise your powers over the education of your young, then you should acknowledge that it was a rotten lesson you taught young people in a free society when you denounced and then burned books — books you hadn’t even read. You should also resolve to expose your children to all sorts of opinions and information, in order that they will be better equipped to make decisions and to survive.
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“Again: you have insulted me, and I am a good citizen, and I am very real,” Vonnegut concludes.
So why do I recount this saga now? Because Republicans who run Iowa have come unstuck in time, or at least unstuck from American values. We still aren’t listening to Vonnegut.
Republican lawmakers passed and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 496, which directs schools to remove books or materials from libraries and curriculum that depict a “sex act.” Sure, there’s a list of sex acts in the Iowa Code, but what does depiction mean, exactly.
That vagueness is a feature, not a flaw. The more confused school officials become trying to follow the law, the better chance they’ll cast a wide net and remove books just to be safe.
The biter fruits of their labor are being harvested this fall. The Des Moines Register sent out requests for book removal lists from every school district in Iowa and is building a database to track removals. So far, only 24 districts have responded, and they’ve removed hundreds of books.
“Slaughterhouse Five” has been removed from the shelves in seven Iowa school districts, according to the Register’s database, including Forest City, Martensdale-St. Mary’s, Nevada, Sigourney, Waverly—Shell Rock, West Des Moines and Winterset.
In Iowa City, a UNESCO City of Literature, the school district has slated 68 books for removal. The list doesn’t include “Slaughterhouse Five,” but does include works such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood.
The books are not headed for the furnace. At least, not yet. I only wish Vonnegut was still alive to tell our so-called leaders what he thinks about censorship.
Backers of the bill say we can’t expose the kids to sex acts! And yes, I agree there are books out there that should not be offered for teenage consumption. Don’t ask me for titles. I don’t want to give them any ideas.
But, once again, this really isn’t about sex. It’s about burying ideas and worldviews disliked by our conservative crusaders and moms claiming to be for liberty. That’s why so many of the books being removed are written by LGBTQ authors and people of color, exploring discrimination, racism and other concepts that might make kids, or, God forbid, their parents, uncomfortable.
And you’d better pull “The Handmaid’s Tale” before the courts uphold GOP-backed draconian restrictions on abortion. Nothing to see here, kids.
There’s a lot of talk of preserving kids “innocence.” But really, it’s preserving ignorance of the world they’ll soon be inheriting. Boy, aren’t they going to be surprised when they find out preserving their comfort is not a big priority.
Then they’ll know this whole sad saga is a rotten lesson to teach kids in a free society. I still can’t believe this is happening in Iowa. Perhaps I’m stuck in time, in the Iowa that used to cherish education, freedom of speech and freedom of expression. I’m not ready to give it up.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Books ‘are sacred,’ but not in Iowa schools this fall
Perhaps I’m stuck in time, in the Iowa that used to cherish education, freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
www.thegazette.com
