Every year, Freedom to Read Week reminds us about the essential and divisive value of intellectual freedom. It encourages conversation around the concept of banning books due to content deemed objectionable, particularly in the context of school syllabi and school and city libraries.
To celebrate FTRW, Open Book takes a look at one frequently-challenged Canadian classic, why it has been banned in the past and why we should continue to read it today.
Freedom to Read Week: The Wars by Timothy Findley:
WHY IT WAS CHALLENGED
It interesting what isn't challenged in The Wars, a book that confronts the horrors of war through one Canadian soldier's fractured memories of WWI. The mental, physical and emotional trauma experienced as a solider by Robert Ross and the horror of war itself doesn't seem to give pause. Instead, it's the usual taboo, the darkness from which our children must be protected (insert pearl-clutching here): sex and sexual violence.
Why the death of hundreds of thousands gets a pass but Robert's visit to a whorehouse (where he spies on a fellow soldier's consensual gay encounter) is a deal breaker is too big a question to tackle here. But the scene that ranks at the top of every objector's list is the admittedly horrifying sexual assault Robert experiences at the hands of fellow soldiers.
Is this scene harrowing and tragic? Absolutely. For me, it ranks second only to Findley's similarly traumatising scene of sexual violence in Not Wanted On The Journey (don't ask). But "Is it harrowing and tragic?" isn't the question we should be asking. That would preclude studying Shakespeare or Nabokov or countless other literary titans. Instead, we ought to ask "Is the scene artfully rendered, relevant to the narrative of an exceptional book and a chance for valuable discussion?" Yes. Yes and yes.
And it can't be ignored that this particular scene of sexual violence ruffles more feathers than most. The reason is obvious; this is same sex violence. This is violence between soldiers, between men who are supposedly moral, supposedly traditional and importantly, presumed to be exclusively heterosexual. This is something that must not be spoken of, that must not be read, that must not be discussed.
WHY WE SHOULD READ IT ANYWAY
Sex and sexual violence are not things we should avoid discussing with teens. War is not something we should avoid discussing. What better place than the classroom for teens to talk through these issues? Sex is obviously already a part of life for many teens, and sadly sexual violence is for some as well. And regardless of whether these are experiences readers themselves have encountered, discussing them are opportunities to cultivate emotional intelligence and an understanding of other people's challenges. Learning to confront morally complex and emotionally difficult situations with empathy and an open mind is not only an intellectual skill, it's a life skill.
In our hyper-partisan times, public discussions often focus on Us and Them, Good and Bad. The Wars is 224 pages of moral ambiguity, coping with trauma and facing unexpected consequences. It is a dark, difficult, painful book, and it is important not in spite of those descriptors, but because of them.
— Grace O'Connell for Open Book
Toronto events for the 2015 edition of Freedom to Read Week run from February 22 to 28 and can be seen on our Events page. A list of events outside Toronto is available at the Freedom to Read website. These events are presented by the Book and Periodical Council, PEN Canada, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and the Toronto Public Library.
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