Argument Essay

           Rape, abuse, and bullying. All the things that adolescents all around the world may have gone through. These are all the things that are included in the book Carrie, by Stephen King. The book is about a teenage girl named Carrie who is oft She is often bullied by her peers up until the point when she goes on a rampage using her telekinesis power and kills almost her entire high school. This text should be removed from middle school libraries because it contains many graphic sex scenes as well as promotes violence with murder and abuse.

            To start with, one of the most “challenged” authors, according to ALA, is Stephen King, mostly for expressing both explicit sex and rape scenes. Specifically, a part in his book that shows this is when Carrie’s mother was talking to her about the time when she was raped by her father; “It wasn’t until he came in that I smelled the whiskey still on his breath. And he took me. Took me! With the stink of filthy roadhouse whiskey still on him he took me… and I like it!” (248). After this scene, a parent may not want their children to read this book because of the vocabulary in it and the way that a person could be raped. What makes it even worse is that the person could potentially like it. Having a book that shows scenes like this is not appropriate in middle schools, especially if the teenager’s parents don’t know that a book with sex scenes is on the shelf in their children’s school.  Another particularly compelling piece of evidence for this is when the West Lyon Community School Library in Iowa had stated that the book “does not meet the standards of the community.” Many schools all around the country think this too, a book by Stephen King normally has many sex scenes such as his other book, “Different Seasons.” The community may be a peaceful society in Iowa and after reading Carrie, a child may be influenced by the book and potentially think rape/sex is okay. High schools are already banning Stephen King and if adolescents during that age are written off as being not mature enough to read Stephen King, then middle school students may not be mature enough either.

            Furthermore, this book features many sex scenes, but it also presents many scenes of abuse to Carrie which may frighten adolescents or maybe even provoke a bully to do the things expressed in the book such as teasing and making fun of others. In particular, a scene where Carrie’s mother became really mad at her she reacted in a very violent way, “She was whirled into the closet head first and she struck the far wall and fell on the floor in a semi daze. The door slammed and the key turned.” (67). This shows how abusive Carrie’s mother had become. If a parent was to see this in their child’s book they might not want their children reading this either because it may create children to become quite wary and paranoid of their own family. To see what a fictional character could do may also give young teenagers in middle school potential nightmares about this type of thing and could scar them. Another piece of evidence that suggests provoking bullying was when Carrie’s peers were throwing napkins and tampons making fun of her, Carrie described it, “Then the laughter, disgusted, contemptuous, horrified, seemed to rise and bloom into something jagged and ugly, and the girls were bombarding her with sanitary napkins…”(9). This reveals how badly Carrie was being bullied, and to other teenagers it may be seen as a way to make fun of/ bully a person in need. The way that Carrie reacted to being bullied was by being violent which may portray the fact that the easy way out of bullying is to be violent rather than telling an adult.

            On the other hand, although it is a very inappropriate book doesn’t mean that other readers can’t read the book, if they believe that they are mature enough. It is true that after reading Carrie, a high school student, Suzanne Plunkett, wrote, “I don’t recall killing any prom kings after I finished it,” but, just because one student didn’t act out in a violent way doesn’t mean that others won’t.  The book contained a violent act in which Carrie murdered her entire school because she was being bullied. According to ALA, Carrie was rated #81 on the top 100 most challenged books ever since it was created. What this makes clear is that not only parents believe that Carrie should be banned from both middle and high schools, but people who specify in books and who make up that list are experienced adults that come from ALA. If ALA believes that Carrie is a challenged book out of the millions of books out there, then it should be banned. It is also important to acknowledge the fact that this book is fiction and that none of it actually happened, but although some students know that, they still might be influenced by the book subconsciously because of the murder that Carrie did. This was the way she had acted out because of bullying and it can potentially provoke other people who are being bullied to hurt the bullies and not go to an adult or their parents. Many students believe that Carrie shouldn’t be banned, but there are so many parents out there who know their kids and so many adults who research the way books affect a persons mind and they have the right to choose the books that get banned for the safety of young teenagers. Telling your child to simply not read the book will not stop them from finding it on their own and read things that they may or may not be mature enough to read.

            Therefore, even though the text is fiction, middle school students should not have access to it because it may provoke them to do violent things, have sex, and be more wary of their own family. Carrie’s story not only shows how she became so deranged and violent but she also includes a message saying that the best way to get back at someone hurting you, is revenge and violence. Carrie’s life was not easy and instead of giving a better way to deal with it such as, speaking to somebody, she teaches that violence is the answer not the other way around.

Works Cited

"CHALLENGE/BANNING FACTORS." THE CENSORSHIP OF STEPHEN KING. Weebly, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://thecensorshipofstephenking.weebly.com/challengebanning-factors.html>.

Driscoll, Molly. "California High School Considers a Ban on a Stephen King Book." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.

<http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/1015/California-high-school-considers-a-ban-on-a-Stephen-King-book>.

King, Stephen. Carrie; a Novel of a Girl with a Frightening Power. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974. Print.