Forbidden Reading

Forbidden Reading

In the excerpt Forbidden Reading, the topic of being suppressed by higher powers is extremely prominent. However, this is not the root of the problems in a given society as suppression is not one of the basic human instincts. Forbidden Reading exposes the brutality one can find in all societies, regardless of what form it chooses to take. This paper will address one of the most dominant impulses of the human species and of almost all the other species on Earth who are able to have more than basic thought processes. It will begin by addressing what it believes as one of the most dominant impulses, why it is, how it came to be, and why it overshadows so much of any given society.

Curiosity killed the cat. Unfortunately, it is one of the prevailing compulsions lying in one’s body at any given time. Curiosity is something that resides in everyone regardless of one’s beliefs or upbringing. For example, in Forbidden Reading, p.286, it describes Comstock, one who despised all books that “destroy[ed]…the country,” was still taken over by curiosity despite the disgust and made him “dip… into the books before destroying themвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ Curiosity’s unquenchability grows until it is impossible to suppress regardless of the dangers it brings one’s physical being into, for example, one often is often “forced to find devious methods of learning” (p.280) or otherwise quench curiosity. These вЂ?devious’ methods included, for former slaves, encouraging their master’s son through “suggesting that the boy read part of his lesson aloud” and causing the young master to believe that “[they were] …admiring his performance.” Curiosity often lays dormant, until a single action or phrase can spark it into life as it did for this young former slave, “The frequent hearing of my mistress reading the Bible aloud…. awakened my curiosity in respect to this mystery of reading, and roused in me this desire to learn.” (Bottom of p.280) One of the best friends of curiosity is perseverance. This is the factor, which aids to the satisfaction of curiosity preventing one from otherwise forever living in dehydration. For example, “Afro-American slaves learned to read against extraordinary odds, risking their lives in a process that, because of the difficulties set in their way, sometimes took several years.” (p.280) This perseverance is one of the greatest gifts man has been given. It finds many ways to learn and quench curiosity. For example, a former slave “learned her letters while looking after the plantation owner’s baby, who was playing with alphabet blocks.” (p. 280) This former slave, Belle Myers, was punished for this curiosity yet her perseverance did not allow her to give up, she continued trying to learn to read through “secretly studying the child’s letters as well as a few words in a speller she had found.” (p. 280) As children of this generation, we are often taught to rebel against negative opinions of others which tell us we are unable to do this, or powerless to do that. Perhaps this teaching comes from a former slave that declared that “the determination which [his master] expressed to keep me in ignorance only rendered me the more resolute to seek intelligence.” (p. 281) However, this perseverance does not always benefit all, as Comstock, a figure which was briefly described above and is portrayed to be a very horrible figure throughout the passages of Forbidden Reading, used his perseverance to destroy many books and kill hundreds of people. Comstock used “the success of his first raid… [as a sign] to continue, regularly causing the arrest of small publishers and printersвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ (p. 285)

Fortunately, for those who persevere to satisfy a curiosity of knowledge or self-improvement are lucky enough to get help from other sympathetic souls such as a slave, Frederick Douglass’, mistress who tried to teach him to read. “In an incredibly short time, by her kind assistance, I had mastered the alphabet and could spell words of three or four lettersвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ (p. 281) These sympathetic souls are often suppressed as well, for example, in the same thought, Frederick said, “[my master] forbade her to give me any further instruction.” Other former slaves learned to read “either from other slaves or from sympathetic white teachers.” (p. 280) How ever much this suppression reigns, knowing that there is always one or two people who are of the ruling class yet are not blinded by power or that some of the ruling class cannot be indoctrinated but believe in equality is a god send. Class systems in societies are impossible to abolish, yet there have been many attempts to help these less fortunate beings such as those Charles II of England attempted. These included decreeing, “the Council for Foreign Plantations should instruct natives, servants and slaves of the British colonies in the precepts of Christianity,” and believing in “salvation of the souls of his subjects.” Charles II believed that this “salvation of the soul depended on each individual’s ability to read God’s word for himself or herself.” (above three quotes p.279) Yet this cruelty can arise from many factors such as envy or jealousy as childish and immature as seen in grade schools of today’s society. This envy is discussed in Forbidden Reading when, the military coup led by General Jorge Rafael Videla kidnapped Father Orlando Virgilio Yorio. “Among the thousands kidnapped and tortured was a priest… [who] interpreted Christ’s doctrine in too literal a way…Christ spoke of the poor but when he spoke of the poor in spirit [he, the Father] interpreted this in a literal way and went to live, literally, with poor people. In Argentina those who are poor in spirit are the rich and in the future you [the Father] must spend your time helping the rich, who are those who really need spiritual help.” (p. 289) This military coup was obviously envious of the Father’s contentment and ability to live without being toady to wealthy people. There is also another very common reason for cruelty, this being the belief that one is right and better than all others are. This is often shown in a milder form as over-confidence in today’s society but represented in Forbidden Reading by Comstock. Comstock