The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, did not receive much attention when released in 1925 until after Fitzgerald’s death in 1940, when reprints in 1945 and 1953 found a wide readership. Today it is considered one of the “Great American Novels” and a literary classic- the Modern Library, for example, ranks it as the second best English-language novel of the 20th Century. The cover itself, commissioned and finished before the book, is among the most celebrated pieces of jacket art in American literary history. Fitzgerald, it is said, was so captivated by it that he told his publisher he had “written it into” the novel.
However, as one might expect, this literary cornerstone is also a commonly challenged book, coming in at the top of the American Library Association’s list of banned and challenged classics.
The tale takes place in 1922, during that prosperous time in the United States known as the Roaring Twenties, when Prohibition made millionaires out of bootleggers and the social elite lived an exceedingly extravagant lifestyle.
Gatsby is required reading in many an American high school, but there is where it finds many of its challenges from parent groups because of bad language and sexual references.
The majority of the copies that are read in schools have actually been changed from the original to make them “more acceptable” for high school readers; never mind the fact that most of the language and other situations are quite tame compared to the movies and television of today. There are a few “damns” and “hells;” and the occasional “son-of-a-bitch,” but that’s about it. Children in the everyday real world say worse things far more frequently than adults use them, but that fact can’t be seen from inside the bubble where the self-righteous censors live.
Of the so-called sexual references-, there’s not one sex scene displayed in the entire book. The only reference to sex was a recollection of “took her.”
Tsk Tsk- such porn!
There is dialogue about cheating, but that’s about it- such as when a man breaks a mistress’ nose because she dared speak his wife’s name.
That is of little comfort to some parents, though, who object to the book also talking about partying, alcohol, and of lying and deceitful characters- oh, the horror!
The racial comments uttered by Tom that have been challenged actually help the reader connect with the story by making his character even more disdainful than he already is.
To remove such important elements changes the scope of the work as a whole, robbing the reader of both the original vision and a better understanding of the tragedy unfolding between its covers, especially when put in a proper historical context.
Again, this is history put into a literary drama. You can’t paint an accurate picture of a period in time by only discussing the good parts. This was the Prohibition era- gangsters, booze, money, power mongers, and speakeasies. It’s history. It did happen, no matter how hard some people try to sweep it under the rug.
Even college-level courses, which you would think to be the last bastion of rational thinking, are not immune to the reach of the giant red pen, such as in 1987 when it was challenged at the Baptist College in Charleston, South Carolina.
Numerous variations in opera, books, television- including a South Korean TV drama in 2007, radio, music, and video games have either been heavily laced with elements and references from the book or full adaptations of the story.
The Great Gatsby has also seen life on the silver screen six times, making it one of the most frequently adapted stories of all time- the latest of which is set for release in 2013 with an ensemble cast of some of today’s top stars.
For more information on the Banned Books Awareness and Reading for Knowledge project and the complete list of titles covered, please visit the official website at http://www.deepforestproductions.com/BBARK.html
Sources: American Library Association, Wikipedia, Banned Books Resource guide by Robert Doyle
© 2012 R. Wolf Baldassarro/Deep Forest Productions
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