Have you ever read James and the Giant Peach as a kid? I have. I was very surprised to find out that it is on the list for the most banned books in the US. I have read the book many times in my childhood, and really want others to be able to continue and enjoy it. Many kids have the book read to them before they even go to school. Many teachers and parents agree that it is not rational to ban the book. The Giant Peach should stay in schools and libraries! It is a classic book, it teaches many important life lessons to the young, it is a good read for all ages and lastly, the counterclaims to the book are just outright absurd.
James and the Giant Peach is one of the best literature work for children out there. The book is also rated very
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This can be seen in various places in the book. For example, “There was about a mile of string to be hauled in, but they all worked like mad, and in the end, over the side of the peach, there appeared a dripping-wet James with a dripping-wet Centipede clinging to him tightly with all forty-two of his legs.” (Page 96) this quote shows how James won’t give up on his friend, the centipede (which a lot of the other insect thought was dead and didn’t even attempt to help him) and used teamwork to save him. An example of grit and perseverance is how James, throughout the whole book, never gives up or complains doesn’t matter what difficulty he is challenging. And lastly, the whole book has the message of getting to a better place and getting out of an abusive relationship or a bad place because it will get better. This can be seen in this quote of the book, “…right from the beginning they started beating poor James for almost no reason at all” (Page 2) this shows that he was being abused. He also expressed many times in the book about wanting to go away to a “better place”. At the end of the book, he did get to his “Happy Place”, he finally made friends, he could go wherever he wanted to and was finally from his horrid aunts and their …show more content…
They say that it is too magical, and it is true that it has many magical elements that do not exist in the real world. But going from that to calling it satanic? kids can benefit a lot from fantasy fiction, according to studies, reading fiction helps develop our imagination and creativity, helps us feel empathy, reduces stress and even helps us lengthen our memories and decrease our chances to getting mental diseases. There is the claim that the book is too sexual, they get it from this quote, “The spider... ran a long black tongue delicately over her lips” In this scene, James thinks that the spider is hungry, and is going to eat him. (which turns out to be false) It doesn’t make sense that a book should get challenged for a spider licking her lips, it is not a sexual act. Even if it was sexual, which it isn’t, kids wouldn’t understand it. Lastly, there is the argument that James is too disobedient, and would provide a bad role-model for kids. The book is teaching kids to get out of an abusive relationship. It might be hard for kids to hear about an abused kid, but unfortunately, for some kids, it is a reality. And they should learn to get out of or report abuse. Additionally, James is a great role-model, he is brave, smart, and perseveres through his problems and challenges. The book is an all-around great book, the good
Although it is ridiculous to ban books, it is somewhat understandable. Some books are extremely heavy on the controversial side, and include a boat load of inappropriate content. “My corduroys. My boxers. Two layers. I could feel the warmth of her cheek on my thigh. There are times when it is appropriate, even preferable, to get an erection when someone’s face is in close proximity to your penis” (Green). It is easy to see why someone with a closed mind would take offense to this kind of content being in a book for young
First of all, James is very protective of himself. In other words, he protects himself physically because he does not want to get hurt. To illustrate, in the book James says, “We’ve got to get away” he says this because The Snakes (who are the rival gang) have a gun and he doesn’t want to get shot. As a result, this protects him physically,
As has been mentioned, James formed an imaginary version of himself, not only he was not able to express himself, but also he was not free as his imaginary version was. “I’d lock myself in the bathroom and spend long hours playing with him…I’d stared at him, Make faces at him and order him around…Unlike my siblings, he had no opinions, he would listen to me” (McBride 90). Furthermore, James may perhaps shout at the boy, mistreatment him verbally and the boy could not do anything about it. James mirror image would not judge him for anything whereas his family did. As a result, James did not feel too comfortable with his siblings making amusing comments on him. Therefore, his only alternative to run away was talking to himself in the bathroom’s mirror.
Moreover into his life he really began to gain momentum towards his life when he started school. He began Pre-k in a private catholic school St. Anthony. He would gain life experiences by the little things that happened to him. Expecting another classmate to be his friend and ultimately being told that they're not friends made James cry. However, he has learned not to cry when a person does not feel the same way but rather find someone that does. One of his closest friends during Pre-K was Phillip but their friendship would end like most would during such a young age, by going to different schools. James then went to finish most of his elementary classes in St. Joseph’s Catholic School, another private school. There he would go and become more sociable with his peers and had a level of comfortable around them. So much so that he would make a YouTube channel simply titled “James Craw”. Here he would record himself and friends performing skits and the interesting parts of his life he wanted to
“I did it alone, waiting in the dark doorway of a barbershop as the women got off the bus, ripping the purses out of their protesting hands as they cried out in fear and shock” (McBride 34). But according to James, he had every right in the world to steal from other people. At that time he was feeling that he “was getting back at the world for injustices I had suffered” (McBride 34). Several years later, James finally realized how wrong he was. He felt horrible about the everything he had done, and completely regretted all the decisions he made things he did as a teenager. James even claimed that “If you sat me down and asked me which injustices I was talking about, I wouldn't be able to name them if my life depended on it” (McBride 34). In the beginning and the end of the book, James perspective on the world is very similar. It took a lot of questioning the world, and him making numerous wrong decisions, but in the end, all he discovered is that he was right all along. James learned that it’s not alright to take out your frustrations on the world and on other people, it’s not fair to them or yourself because it’ll just make you feel worse in the
James was just a little boy and he
Why do certain people rule over what each child can and cannot read? Is that not the parents’ job to determine whether or not is it appropriate for their child? When a book is considered banned, parents, teachers, and librarians are discouraged from providing the book to their children. Many of these adults then disapprove of the book without even reading it. Junie B. Jones is thrown from the realm of possibility for many children just because the loveable character has some flaws.
There is a lot of content that I strongly dislike, for example, on the very first page of the book, it goes into detail about one of the characters (named Celie) being touched by her own father, who is flesh and blood. “He [Pa] never had a kine word to say to me. Just say You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t. First he put his thing up gainst my hip and sort of wiggle it around. Then he grab hold my titties….(Walker).” There is also a lot of disrespect towards women, when Celie gave birth to a child her own father took her baby and sold it for money. She didn’t get to hold her or say goodbye at all. I understand that this actually happened, and still
James grew up in a racist and segregated part of history. Often times racial slurs were used to describe people of African descent during the time James was growing up. Even during school James would be called these horrendous names: “...someone in the back of the class whispered, “James is ni**er!” followed by a ripple of tittering and giggling across the room” (McBride 89). The fact that small school children call blacks these names shows how racist the many people are and the hatred and discrimination that blacks face. These experience taught James how people treat those that appear to be different. Another experience that taught James this was when he and his family went to the Jewish store and were discriminated against. McBride had many experiences in which he and his family were discriminated against whether it was by the police or store owners: “Some of these Jews can’t stand you” (86). All in all, incidents with people who have a particular dislike for blacks shaped James into the way
This is fueled by, not only the changing emotions that teenagers typically endure, but also by the death of his stepfather, whom he saw as his own father. After his death, James cannot bear to see his mother suffer, for she no longer knows how to control the dynamics of the family and "wandered in an emotional stupor for nearly a year." James instead turns to alcohol and drugs, dropping out of school to play music and go around with his friends, which James refers to as "my own process of running, emotionally disconnecting myself from her, as if by doing to I could keep her suffering from touching me." Instead of turning to his family and becoming "the king in the house, the oldest kid," James "spent as much time away from home as possible absolve[ing] [himself] of all responsibility " As a result, Ruth sends James to live with his older half sister and her husband, in an attempt to straighten her out her son's life. James distracts himself with the life he found there, spending the summers on a street corner with his half sister's husband, Big Richard, whom he adores, and the unique men that frequented the area. During these summers, James discovers "[He] could hide. No one knew [him]. No one knew [his] past, [his] white mother, [his] dead father, nothing. It was perfect. [His] problems seemed far, far away." Instead of facing the realities of loss and anger in his family, James seeks distractions
Nothing happening in the present worried James more than the sake of his mother’s life. Nonetheless, young James is still angry and confused as to what his heritage is. Even though his main concern is on his mother, he still questions his identity and worries for himself. He does not know his heritage and he has no clue where he belongs. How can he hate the whites if his mother is one and how can he hate the blacks if his father is one? He is absolutely torn and perplexed. His only solution to this seems to be spending a few years on the streets drinking alcohol,
First, To Kill a Mockingbird should not be banned because it needs to teach kids how the
James would often be plagued with problems in his life by the government. Personal problems also plagued his life divorce, and the death of his first child. He also had problems with drugs that landed him in prison for three years during 1988 (Brenchley, 2003, DVD). In 2004, his most recent problems with the law are the domestic violence issues with his spouse. Through all his problems he always seem to find away to bounce back.
There has been much controversy over whether or not the novel To Kill a Mockingbird should be banned or not. This novel teaches students about the racism and prejudice of the 1930’s resulting in why the world is the way it is, as well as many important life lessons, therefore it should be continued to be taught in schools. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird should not be banned because it teaches about life in the past and why the world is the way it is now, proving that this novel has the ability to effectively educate kids about the past and potential impact of human behaviour.
For example, the text says” I hold Isaac’s hand as we cross the street.” Just a small action like that proves that James doesn’t want Isaac to be in danger or, in hazards of going out, even though being there is dangerous already. Now, I think James has more care for his brother, seeing that he put himself and Isaac at risk. He probably knew that this would be dangerous from the start, but still did it because he wants to be cool. I think James is also regretting his decision of being attractive , and wishing that he just followed the rules and stayed home with