Invisible Man Banned

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There are a plethora of justifications for banning books from school, such as offensive language, sexual explicitness or even violence. There are books that are banned within reason, such as 50 Shade of Grey by E. L. James, as they are extreme in the eyes of the youth. However, there are also books on the ban list that hold educational value, although they should be taught to the public, such as Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. There are some books that contain a miniscule amount of sexual explicit and violence, however, some of these books have a greater educational value than the insignificant scenes. Invisible Man is a perfect example of an unrightfully banned book, since it does depict some scenes of nudity, but overall, the book teaches…show more content…
The narrator never revealed his name because he is unknown and mysterious to the reader. This emphasizes his invisibleness in society. The narrator had a simple dream of fitting in and rising above social limits with the ability to change himself and allow others to accept each other. However, the narrator’s adventure in finding himself led him to the realization that he was essentially nothing and was invisible to the world due to the color of his skin. The book, Invisible Man, educated the reader on social division by race in the 20th century and how lives of blacks were depicted at the time. Ellison wanted to inform the masses by using a different approach than most authors; it was effective as Invisible Man was a landmark 1952…show more content…
“I felt a desire to spit upon her as my eyes brushed slowly over her body. Her breasts were firm and round as the domes of East Indian temples, and I stood so close as to see the fine skin texture and beads of pearly perspiration glistening like dew around the pink and erected buds of her nipples”(Ellison 19). This quote from the book itself is a very vivid description of sexual content. However, Ellison was utilizing this sexual content as a metaphor to express something greater. In this case, Ellison was using the sexualized woman and the narrator to show the taboo present in the 20th century. The reader would see the taboo as something unattainable, as Ellison was trying to go back that racial division at the time was like taboo and that it was unobtainable for the narrator to achieve social equality. Some critics would challenge Ellison’s diction as being too vulgar for children and teenagers, although I would counter this, because I believe teenagers are mature enough to handle a diminutive amount of profanity and sexual content by the age of
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