Bhuiya 1

Sajid Bhuiya

Ms. Harris

AP Language

16 April 2021

Censorship and Those that Go Against It

“So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of

life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless”

(Bradbury). This quote from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury explains that the books show all

the faults within society when nobody wanted to see such filth of their doing. The society within

the story look past all the filth and terror that appear in life and only experience the good that life

has to offer. Thus, it is cut away from their society and rejected from their minds. This can be

correlated to the main texts, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Language Police by Diane

Ravitch. Within Brave New World, we witness Bernard’s attempt to rebel against a society that is

intentionally dumbed down to a basic level to maintain control over the World State and its

people, prioritizing the stability of the nation over the achievements its people can make. It has

its own caste system which all contribute to the society, each with their own training and

intelligence of their own. Bernard’s objective is to reject and question this social system within

the World State, and we witness the challenges, successes, and eventual outcome of his actions

throughout the story. In Language Police by Diane Ravitch, we witness how the education

system functions when it comes to how its curriculum is made and what is considered

appropriate to teach the student through the investigations and observations of Diane Ravitch.

She learns that the way curriculum is made and chosen for textbooks and tests go through a bias
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and sensitivity review, which judges bias very differently than what many considered biased. In

an act to understand why this is the case, Ravitch decided to investigate further to understand the

history of censorship within the education system within the US. In Brave New World by Aldous

Huxley and Language Police by Diane Ravitch, using the idea of expectations not being met or

broken because of restrictions and the concept of acting upon an action as a result of pressure

from a force suggests that censorship and being restricted from something, someone, or some

place can make a person or group to develop an interested to said restriction where an area or

society has accepted such restriction and censorship, which is the cause of high expectations and

potentially forced to do something against their will from said area or society.

One idea that is shared between Brave New World and Language Police is the idea of

expectations of something is not met or destroyed in a negative sense as a result of restrictions or

censorship, which is shown through John’s broken expectations of what the World State was in

Brave New World, and Ravitch’s surprise of how t. When Bernard saw how John acted when he

heard stories of the World State, John was always excited of them, but always felt how isolated

and rejected he felt from it due to his mom never being accepted into the village due to her

actions. When Bernard asked John if he wanted to come to the World State, he could not hold

back his excitement, saying. “‘To think it should be coming true–what I’ve dreamt of all my

life…O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is!... O

brave new world’, he repeated. ‘O brave new world that has such people in it. Let’s start at

once’” (Huxley 153). Using characterization on John, we see how passionate he felt of the World

State and always wondered what it was like. His expectations of the World State were very high,

which is made known when he says, “To think it should be coming true–what I’ve dreamt of all

my life”. He values such intelligence and beauty of the World State from the stories from Linda,
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which is shown when he says “O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How

beauteous mankind is!” John always looked forward to the people there and was highly

expecting a land like his ideal paradise and determination to such values John has took on when

as he grew up. He finally confirms his reality with “O brave new world that has such people in it.

Let’s start at once” to show his affirmation to be ready to tackle on any obstacle from him

blending into the society that he has such high expectations for and become accepted within the

World State. As the story moved on form the initial expectations to the sudden reality, John is

shown to be greatly disappointed from what he expected. This is shown when John first met

Mond and the Controller and learning that they are some of the only few people that knew and

understood the old and beautiful texts that he had learned when he was at the village. When John

asks them why this was the case, they all said it is because it is old and has such beauty that

makes them forbidden. They needed new things for the society within the World State to be

entertained with and something that they could understand, as those old texts have such beauty

but are too complicated or attempt to replicate. When John asks why that would be the case, he

was told this,

‘Because our world is not the same as Othello’s world…The world’s stable now...Which

you go and chuck out of the window in the name of liberty.’ ‘Othello’s good, Othello’s

better than those feelies.” ‘Of course it is,’ the Controller agreed. ‘But that’s the price we

have to pay for stability.’ ‘But they’re … they’re told by an idiot.’ ‘Precisely. But that

require the most enormous ingenuity.’ ‘It all seems to me quite horrible.’ ‘Of course it

does. Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-

compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn’t nearly so spectacular as

instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against
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misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal

overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand.’ (Huxley 245-246)

With the usage of characterization of John and a little bit of Mond, we can see the definition of

his expectations shattered and as a result, having a debate regarding such topic to Mond and the

Controller. John favors such beauty and intelligence that he perceived came from the World

State but was distraught to see the actual result of the World State. On the other hand, Mond see

the opposite of John, where he sees such beauty and intelligence unnecessary for everyone to

have to maintain order and stability within the nation that is the World State. He as well as the

Controller believe that it is deemed necessary to sacrifice said things in order to control the

society he leads, which is backed up by him saying this “The world’s stable now...Which you go

and chuck out of the window in the name of liberty.” John see this as a complete negative and

mentions that this forced idiocy makes the world lose all form of natural and achievable

happiness. In John’s own words, “But they don’t mean anything.” Mond responds to this by

saying actual happiness is not always the best-case scenario to dealing with situations and more

often break the stability of the World State, and best to rid of such ideas to maintain stability, as

said by him, “And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune,

none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or

doubt.” This conflict between beauty and intelligence versus stability and idiocy is what makes

John very conflicted by the morality of the World State. This same sentiment is shared to

Ravitch in Language Police when he investigated what is considered passable and acceptable

according to the bias guidelines. When Ravitch was accepted to the committee to choose stories

for fourth grade students, the committee chose stories that were engaging for the children but

also have good literature. When it was passed by the bias and sensitivity review, it was all
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deemed unacceptable according to the bias guidelines. This confused Ravitch and the rest of the

committee, as the reason for why all of the texts were rejected is what surprised them. In

Ravitch’s words,

When read the panelists’ reasons for rejecting passages, realized that their concept of bias

was not the same as the common understanding of the term. As far as 1 could tell, they

did not actually find any examples of racial or gender bias as most people understand it…

Some of the panel’s interpretations were, frankly, bizarre… There are always other test

passages to use, so the acceptance or rejection of these particular passages is hardly a

cause for alarm. What is alarming, however, is the absurd reasoning that was invoked to

justify the elimination of these readings. (Ravitch 7)

The use of ethos and pathos within this quote shows the absurdity Ravitch was hit with when she

learned of the reasons that the passages got rejected. Ravitch is a research professor at the New

York University as well as a historian of education. She also had experience within this field, as

she was present when she got the rejections, hence why this blew her away when she learned that

the stories the board submitted was all rejected for rather ridiculous reasons. The pathos that can

be found is when she mentions “Some of the panel’s interpretations were, frankly, bizarre”. This

could give off a feeling of shock or confusion as Ravitch mentions the reasons made no sense in

the original meaning of bias. This is backed up when she says, “What is alarming, however, is

the absurd reasoning that was invoked to justify the elimination of these readings.” This acts as

an indirect form of provocation for her curiosity as her initial expectation of bias meant was

completely thrown off by the bias guidelines, where bias means more than the typical definition

she provided, which is “any examples of racial or gender bias as most people understand it”.

When she started to investigate what is considered biased, she learned that this censorship of
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biased content had lasted for decades and as time went on, more content would be more cut

down or rephrased for a variety of reasons. Ravitch looked into the odd censoring tactics of such

content and came out with an instance of how the bias reviewers are trained, saying,

Reviewers were trained to eliminate material that seemed to favor or stereotype one

group or religion; that portrayed a racial or ethnic group in a pejorative or stereotypic

manner; that presented gratuitous violence or speech; that presented “controversial”

themes such as war; that assumed values not shared by all test-takers; that presented

sexual innuendoes, and so on. The sensitivity reviewers did what they were trained to do,

which was to eliminate, delete, remove, replace, revise—that is, censor—offensive

material. (Ravitch 117)

With the usage of logos, Ravitch figures outs that the reason for much of the seemingly

excessive censorship of content is due to how the reviewers are trained to handle much of the

content. Much of the content censored is tending to “favor or stereotype one group or religion”

and thus must remove said content to appease the group of people. This has been done

historically since the 1960s, during the times when many groups and religions were striking back

for their own representation within the US. As years have passed, the reviewers have to be even

more aware to review and cut out any unnecessary content that is not deemed viable coming

from any group or religion. Such other content that was also censored was “that presented

“controversial” themes such as war; that assumed values not shared by all test-takers; that

presented sexual innuendoes, and so on.” Controversial themes tend to bring upon many varying

opinions that may cause many to feel uncomfortable and hence is censored out. Inappropriate

topics are usually also censored for the self-explanatory reason of not being appropriate for the

students and the institution to be teaching. All these reasons are why much of the content that is
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seen through many of educational texts, textbooks, and tests have content that is deemed neutral

to all parties in the story and all the parties within society. The expectation that Ravitch came in

with regarding what bias meant had changed from the typical definition that she had thought of

before to anything that did not appease any group within society. These expectations that many

people come in with can always be shattered, which is important to remember to be flexible with

your expectations and to never be hard struck on a single ideal, as it may always be betrayed and

change the way you think of said expectation permanently.

Another idea shared between Brave New World and Language Police is the concept of

conforming to demands due to censorship. This is shown through Bernard’s conflicting decisions

and the bias reviewers’ choices of approval. When Bernard was invited by Lenina to go to the

wrestling match and when Lenina urged him to take some soma, Bernard kept refusing her and

when Lenina wanted to leave the Channel, Bernard said,

“I want to look at the sea in peace…“It makes me feel as though…as though I were more

me, if you see what I mean. More on my own, not so completely a part of something else.

Not just a cell in the social body. Doesn’t it make you feel like that, Lenina?... “I don’t

understand anything,” she said with decision, determined to preserve her

incomprehension intact. “Nothing.” (Huxley 95-96).

Using the characterization of Bernard, this is a case of Bernard’s morals and principles not

matching those of the norms and general morals of societies. The society within Brave New

World works in a way where everyone’s contribution helps better society. This explains why said

she did not understand, as she is “determined to preserve her incomprehension intact”. She did

not want to understand what Bernard meant and rather just wanted to seek out to Bernard.

Bernard instead does not agree with how society worked and wants to be unbound from the
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structure of this society. “Not just a cell in the social body” implied that Bernard wanted to be

recognized for who he really was and not just by his social status and his job but is confined to

follow these norms, as such outside thinking was censored out from the rest of society. Despite

his words, he gave in to temptation and stayed with Lenina. Another instance of this was after

Bernard brought himself along and John to Mond, in which Mond and John talk about the

society within and why it is run as such. When the commander mentioned that those that

disrupted the way society is run, they are sent to an island. Hearing this, Bernard was terrified

and woke into a frenzy, saying

“Send me to an island? You can’t send me. I haven’t done anything. It was the others. I

swear it was the others. Oh, please don’t send me to Iceland. I promise I’ll do what I

ought to do. Give me another chance. Please give me another chance. I tell you, it’s their

fault,” he sobbed. “And not to Iceland. Oh please, your fordship, please…” (Huxley 251-

252).

From the use of characterization of Bernard, this is rather unusual of him from previous

encounters of coming close to getting caught. After hearing about his eviction, he started to panic

and become desperate. “I haven’t done anything. It was the others. I swear it was the others.”

implies his desperation for not wanting to leave the society, as it was John for the dramatic

response and the cause of the uproar. Bernard was not familiar of the territory he was walking

into, as he pleaded, “And not to Iceland. Oh please, your fordship, please…”, showing that he

was not aware of the real circumstances that he would be walking into. This shows a fear of the

true unknown, which was caused by the lack of information, rather the censorship of the exile

system within the society. Such events are also present within the real world within Language

Police. One such event occurs when Ravitch learns of the Scott Foresman-Addition Wesley bias
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guidelines. The bias guidelines are supposed to remove any distraction for the reader and any

potential outsiders looking over the text. What it means though are much different and drastic

than what it initially meant. For example, one of the examples from the guidelines says,

“It is objectionable, writers are warned, to write ‘Primitive cultures sometimes lack

adequate medical care,’ because there are no ‘primitive cultures.’ One must not say,

‘Most Vietnamese are poor peasants,’ because such a statement, even if true, is

condescending. One must not say, ‘Mr. Vargas, an agricultural adviser, is part of a life-

and-death struggle to bring black Africa in the twentieth century.’ Such a statement is

biased because black Africa was already in the twentieth century, even if the author

intended to say that its agricultural practices were not. (Ravitch 36)

Using diction on the guidelines, this has a mix of abstract and evocative text, as the examples are

attempting to explain abstract ideas through somewhat evocative texts. In this case, the said

evocative texts are used in a negative connotation to explain why it should not be included.

Many of the words that are flagged for exclusion and censorship are seen as “negative”, such as

primitive and poor. These make it seem like an object, person/people, or place is seen in a lower

light, and hence should be cut off, even if it may be rather important to the context of the story.

There is also a case where despite the lack of negative connotation within said context, the story

is cut off for implying something that is vaguely true, even if it is proposing something. “Mr.

Vargas, an agricultural adviser, is part of a life-and-death struggle to bring black Africa in the

twentieth century.” is a good example of this, as despite the context to bring Africa back to the

modern era in an agricultural sense, it is still cut out as it is deemed “biased” for the assumption

that Africa is not in the modern era in a vague sense, even when it describes a specific issue from

within. Many of these phrases are relatively important to how their story goes and what is being
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portrayed but is cut out due to standards that the publishers have to follow to avoid getting

attacked by any person or group of people over small and sometimes important details. Another

example of this is how the tests are made in relation to the texts and textbooks they are made for,

in which they are made using the exact same method and guidelines. A good example of the said

similarities is this test question,

“Consider the following example of “bias toward minority groups” on a history test:

“Analyze the causes for the preeminence of Western civilization since the Middle Ages.”

NES says this statement is biased because it “displays a cultural and ethnic bias toward

Western civilization” …Certainly the statement could have been improved by saying

“Analyze the causes of the technological, military, and economic preeminence of the

West since the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries.” ‘The dominance of the West in

recent centuries is a historical reality, not just a biased opinion.

This use of diction uses formal and evocative words to explain how the first question was biased,

while the second rids of the bias within the first question. The first question words the question

as such where the West is seen as only superior to the other regions with the phrase

“preeminence of Western civilization since the Middle Ages.” This makes it seem as the West

was seen as superior to the other regions since the middle ages and has been superior for many

years. The second question fixes that issue with the first question, in which it covers the specific

aspects why the West was seen as superior to the other regions, using the string “military, and

economic preeminence of the West since the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries”. This is seen as

better than the first, as it explains that the West was seen as superior in specific aspects rather

than a whole and for a rather specific timeframe rather than a generalization of the time age.

Despite this improvement of this question, the guidelines would still not allow this type of
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question as it focuses on too many aspects of the superiority of the West rather than one aspect of

the West in comparison of the other regions within that specific time era. It is because of the

society censorship within Brave New World and the restrictions within the bias guidelines in

Language Police that gave the similarity of censorship causing people to conform to the

demands of the outlying rules within each text. The restrictions that are shown on both texts are a

good indicator of why restrictions and censorships are put there in the first place and whether it

is morally correct to put such censors and restrictions can be challenged but be ready to face

challenges that regard going against them.

Due to these expectations being not met or broken and control taken over from you all

due to censorship and restrictions, it makes the person or group finding a way to investigate and

develop an interest or question and reject said restriction or censor. The expectations that are

broken from John’s ideals and Ravitch’s expectations of bias being twisted is what can occur

when attempting to find the truth or live up to the ideal placed on a restricted or censored topic

and thus either can make you challenge what you believe against said restriction or change your

opinion of what you believe about the restriction for the better. As for the control taken from

Bernard when trying to question and reject the society of the World State and its people, and

reviewers’ strict policies due to the amount of parties that are associated within the information

found in texts and tests, this control is generally lost when there is major opposition from a party

and there is no option but to be taken control, hence making that restriction or censor for the

future. Now if anyone were to go against said newfound restriction or censor, control can be

taken from you at any point, which is why its important to acknowledge and understand why

they are there in the first place. These restriction and censors affect how we view and act within

a society, so it is important to understand why it exists and oblige by it if you deem it is morally
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right. If you or a group deem it morally wrong, it is important to acknowledge its existence, and

attempt to debate and counteract said restriction and censor in an appropriate matter. It is also

important to remember that when opposing said restriction or censor is to be flexible with what

you expect, as having inflexible expectations can harm how you perceive said censor and

restriction, whether it is for the better or not.