The Day They Came To Arrest The Book Review

My novel ‘The Day They Came To Arrest The Book’ was based upon racism in the late 70’s. An era which occurred before I existed. There are many movies and books depicting events from this time, some of which I have seen or read.

I had always thought that my views on racism were somewhat close to the truth, after reading the novel I realized that I had been wrong. Therefore, this novel has altered my feelings and opinions which I had towards the treatment of the Negro race.

Before I read this novel I had only ever seen the effects of racism from a white person’s point of view. After reading this I began to understand how life would have been for a black person during this time, and the effects which it would have had on their job, family and own self-esteem.

The main point of the book was whether or not, 19th century novel, Huckleberry Finn should be allowed to be a part of the school’s curriculum considering its portrayal of racism. Having a mixed race school many opinions were voiced.

In the novel, Huckleberry Finn was treated like the bible. The white people swore by it. To suggest it was wrong and inappropriate, as the blacks of the community did, was something which was frowned upon. Although most of the blacks recognized the fact that Huckleberry Finn held some truth of the past.

Everyone is brought up differently, and most oftenly people’s views are a result of their parents views. My parents’ views on racism have swayed me lightly. Much of what I believe has been affected by today’s society itself. Since I have never experienced any first hand racism, the sort which was shown in the book, I have only this to go on.

In the novel, nearly every black child sided with his/her parents. That was to throw the book out of the school. Their parents didn’t want them to be subjected to such a crude and negative portrayal of black people. Their attitude affected their children’s views. To everyone’s surprise, one child, was more open-minded. Gordon McLean a black child stated that he did not want to voice an opinion until had read the book. This I found strange considering his father, Carl McLean headed the protest committee and was the most narrow-minded person featured in the book.

Carl McLean had grown up during a time where racism was alive and thriving and even though it wasn’t as strong during the present time he still didn’t want his son to go through what he must have been affected during this time.