History has taught us many things. One is how sometimes words challenge the human mind and ego, and as a natural reaction, the challenged man can do only one thing, suppressing everything that will put it at risk.
Censorship of books is something we found plenty of times in history books, the act of authorities suppressing ideas and information within a book.
Psychology and communications professor Rosaria Montesanti explained the origin of censorship, she said: “It was ignited by the fear of men in power, who so desperately needed to impose their truth, erasing the possibility of opposition or disagreement from their narrative, that was the only way they could survive. So, since accessing books would have uncovered their scheme, they applied censorship.”
Limiting freedom of speech and expression is a primordial act of force that has never gotten the effect desired by those in power, it has only brought more attention and interest from the public because more people are not able to have something, the more they want it.
Montesanti added: “Men are subdued by the coercive force of a lie, which chains them and makes them subject to control, until the discovery of the truth reveals the deception’
Recently discourse about censorship flamed up again when ‘Maus,’ a graphic novel for children illustrating the horrors of the Holocaust, was banned by a school board in Tennessee. The reason behind the ban? ‘ Inappropriate material’.
The reaction to this ban was not the least bit surprising, with the book rising to the top books on Amazon. Proving how people will always find a way to bring the truth and what is meant to be known out in the light.
Still, it is surprising to see that nowadays bans and censorship are at the heart of many controversies. People in power trying to suppress a fundamental right like the one of expression and thought with history constantly repeating itself by never learning from past mistakes.
When questioned about how censorship truly impacts freedom of expression Montesanti said: “No type of censorship will ever stop humankind from thinking. Individuals identify themselves through thoughts, and by doing so a man will always be free, like Rousseau said ‘the man is free even in chains.’”
Despite being a constant reminder of the impact of power and force, censorship has never once stopped the human mind from wanting to discover and uncover every truth hidden in words or stories. Knowledge will never cease to exist as long as the mind keeps on longing for it.
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