Margaret Atwood and Censorship

Margaret Atwood writes a creative take on censorship in a group of readings about children's literature called Only Connect. There will always be people who censor stuff-- it's the American way. Although we have the freedom to do whatever we want, it's our duty to try to take that freedom away from others-- at least it often appears that way when people censor books. Not that I think all books are appropriate, but I don't think that is a decision that should be made by a special interest group.

Anyway, off of my opinion and back to Atwood.

I thought I would include part of her article below.

There was once a poor girl, as beautiful as she was good, who lived with her wicked stepmother in a house in the forest.

Forest? Forest is passe, I mean, I've had it with all the wilderness stuff. It's not a right image of our society, today. Let's have some urban for a change.

There was once a poor girl, as beautiful as she was good, who lived with her wicked stepmother in a house in the suburbs.

That's better. But I have to seriously query this word poor.

But she was poor!

Poor is relative. She lived in a house, didn't she?

Yes.

Then socio-economically speaking, she was not poor.

But none of the money was hers! The whole point of the story is that the wicked stepmother makes her wear old clothes and sleep in the fireplace--

Atwood goes on to completely destroy, because of censorship, the entire beginning of Cinderella. This also makes me think of composition because these are some comments we might make to students who are writing composition-- we want good details-- but creative writing has to leave a place for the fairy tale.