The Key to Getting a Book Banned

Getting a book banned—you can go ahead and call it a life goal.

And no, I’m not talking about showing up to a school board meeting and actually getting a book banned.

Yes, I have to share the world with such parenting tactics, but I prefer not to cave to the peer pressure of incompetence.

I’m talking about getting a book banned the old-fashioned way—as in writing one.

But how?

Have a look.

The Great Gatsby (1925)

Social mobility, even in a society that boasts about it, can be a mirage.

If achieved, the resultant material wealth may or may not correlate with peace and contentedness.

In that regard, for some, the American Dream is the wrong life game to play.

The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

Male teenage angst is real.

Trauma, including the loss of a loved one, can compound the anguish, especially if not discussed openly.

Often, the ones tasked with helping can make things worse.

Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

Thought control and conformity have always been and always will be a part of the human experience.

Deep thinkers can make those around them uncomfortable.

The uncomfortable, in turn, resort to things like book bans.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)

Racism was a problem in the Deep South.

As a result, justice was not always served.

Thankfully, people are not necessarily what they seem.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962)

America’s early-20th-century approach to psychiatric institutionalization may have been overzealous.

Unrelated to that policy, sexuality and mental health can overlap in myriad ways.

When any type of control becomes oppression, the results can be tragic.

In other words, to achieve the mission, I have to do just one thing: tell the truth.