The article Young Adult Literature: Ethics, Evils, and the Ever-Present Question of Censorship by Alexandria K. Mintah argues that even though there could be bad stuff in a book, what does the book teach you overall? She states that people prejudge the book for you, rather than letting you decide whether it’s good or bad for you. She also talks about how books can teach you about the real world.

Mintah discusses how if we don’t forbid bad books, it will make it easier to find beneficial books, rather than trying to tip toe around the all the books that might have harmful content but have a good message. This would be depriving us of learning a lesson.

This relates to F-451 because their society banned all books because their content made a group unhappy. These books all had good messages, but had something bad in them.

Mintah continues on by stating that a lot of people prejudge books and try to ban them before we even know what it’s about. This is paranoia and it seems that these people don’t think we can judge a book ourselves. This could lead to the eventual destruction of rights (it would take a while, but it could happen over a long period of time)

In F-451, the government basically pre read everything and stated that all books were harmful, when in reality they aren’t.

Mintah also said that often times these books can teach us about the real world. These books can help us understand why people act the way they do. They often present real world problems, and help us form our own opinions.

In F-451, after books were banned, the people didn’t know anything about the world they’re in.
Ex: they though Benjamin Franklin was the first fireman because he burned British books.

In conclusion, banning books is still a big problem today even though we don’t really feel the effects. Always use your wisdom before you read something.