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 Linda Thomas
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A Brave New World controversy

November 17, 2010 @ 2:33 am (Updated: 3:46 pm - 3/28/11 )

Something 10th graders at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle did was so upsetting to a student and her mom that it's resulted in a curriculum change at the school, and apologies from the principal.

What were they doing? Reading. Reading Aldous Huxley's Brave New World as part of their language arts curriculum.

BraveNewWorldWhile the book is the center of a new controversy in Seattle, the debate about the fictional story has gone on for decades. The American Library Association ranks Brave New World as number 36 on the list of the top 100 books people have either banned or tried to ban.

Set in the year 2540, the book depicts a world in which everyone's life is predetermined. Boys and girls are conditioned at birth to fulfill already designated societal roles. As a result, everyone grows up happy. Or, almost everyone. The conflict in the novel arises when a few people try to fight the system that's running and ruining their lives.

Sarah Sense-Wilson's daughter was required to read the novel for a class at Nathan Hale. She is Native American, and her heart started to sink as she turned the pages to find more than 30 references to "savage natives."

"She was very upset and she said, 'Mom I need to tell you something, but I don't want you to get mad. There's a book I have to read in my class and it portrays Indian people as being savages and living on reservations,'" Sense-Wilson says.

She tried to read the book for herself.

"I was outraged when I read through the book. I had to keep putting it down because it was so hurtful," says Sense-Wilson. "It was traumatizing to read how Indian people were being depicted."

The text has a "high volume of racially offensive derogatory language and misinformation on Native Americans. In addition to the inaccurate imagery, and stereotype views, the text lacks literary value which is relevant to today's contemporary multicultural society," she wrote in a complaint earlier this year to Nathan Hale and district administrators.

How important is Brave New World for the 10th grade language arts curriculum at Nathan Hale?

The chair of the language arts department, Shannon Conner, defended the merits of the book calling it a "superb warning book about our future. Huxley cautions his future readers from becoming too reliant on, and compliant with, technology." But at the same time, the high school apologized and determined that the "cultural insensitivity embedded in this book makes it an inappropriate choice as a central text in our 10th grade curriculum."

They are no longer using the book. Sense-Wilson says she's "proud of" the way Nathan Hale has responded.

"They've really listened, they have invited us to be part of the school, they now have a a native club and they're extending themselves to really try to repair that damage," she says.

Why is this book still an issue? Sense-Wilson wants other high schools in Seattle to stop using it in their curriculum too. The Seattle School board is meeting this afternoon to discuss the use of the book Brave New World.

Sense-Wilson wants to make her position clear. She is not trying to ban the book.

"We are not about book burning and we're not radicals," she says. "We're not trying to in any way censor that book, we're just saying it does not belong in high school. It is not appropriate for the curriculum."

If the book is an important or interesting novel for teenagers, she suggests putting it in the library.

"Then if students want to go to the library and check that book out and read it for their own entertainment, that's fine," says Sense-Wilson. "Most of the kids I've talked to don't even like the book so I doubt it would even get an audience in the library."

Incidentally, any resident in the Seattle school district, or any parent or guardian of a child enrolled in the district, may challenge instructional materials schools use. The district has a 10-step process to determine if the complaint about a book or material is justified.

Update: Brave New World approved in Seattle high schools

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (65)


  • Add A Comment

  • Country_Dog wrote...
    She Needs to Read 1984!
    November 17, 2010 6:10 am
    The story writes:

    "Sense-Wilson wants to make her position clear. She is not trying to ban the book.

    'We are not about book burning and we're not radicals,' she says. 'We're not trying to in any way censor that book, we're just saying it does not belong in high school. It is not appropriate for the curriculum.'"

    TRANSLATION: We are not trying to ban the book; we just don't want anybody to read it, see it or have access to it. Other than that, its not banned.

    War is peace.

    Freedom is slavery.

    Seattle is enlightened.

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  • hpygolkyone wrote...
    NewsChick.........
    November 17, 2010 6:27 am
    .....you are a fantastic writer and I enjoy reading your blog, but......I could hardly force myself to read this entire story. It was so upsetting to me and I am certain that what you wrote is going to keep me up at night. Could you please remove it? P.S.......could you remove it before anyone else has a chance to read it, because I am sure that they are going to find it just as upsetting as I did. -Sigh-
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  • jjmoore44 wrote...
    Or maybe shee needs to read the book she wants to ban...
    November 17, 2010 6:35 am
    The "society" in the book is a sex-crazed, drugged out, lab manufactured "people". The "savages" lived free and as humans do now. Huxley may have used native americans as his prototype but his intent wasn't to slander their culture. Actually he was wanting to glorify the fact that they (savages) still had choices in life, something that was taken away from the "civils". Something that is being taken away from us by a person who can't read past a word and see the meaning of book beyond having their feelings hurt. I hope that all the kids who no longer are required to read this dystopic, scarily prohetic NOVEL, CHOOSE to check it out of the library
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  • jpmarine wrote...
    The "open minded" speak again
    November 17, 2010 6:58 am
    These are the people who are open minded and accepting, as long as it their views and only what they agree with that are being portrayed. A liberal is a weak minded person, who can not handle anything that they do not agree with. They must control everyone else, thinking that onloy what they believe is true. Problem is, pretty much 100 percent of what they believe in is wrong and has been proved so over and over and over throughout history.
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  • NewsFromMars wrote...
    All or Nothing
    November 17, 2010 6:59 am
    Lets give Kids a little controversy, its probably no worse then what they would here or see on T.V...it's all OK to read or none of it is.
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  • len98531 wrote...
    I wonder what this Scholar of Literature
    November 17, 2010 7:08 am
    feels about Lor of the Flies or Catcher in the Rye...
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  • AJ McCarrell wrote...
    jpmarine
    November 17, 2010 7:31 am
    No doubt of course you'd be hooting and hollering if it were a book by an Iraqi depicting American troops as occupiers. I don't know why you're complaining about the job the public school system did on you, since you're obviously an unthinking proud product of them, just like the rest of the kids who are unable to think and probably have never read the book in question. I guess knee-jerking saves you from having to think. I just hope you're doing something useful with all of that mental energy you've been saving. Now, I guess I'm going to get the "LIBERAL!!!!" retort now, even though I'm not a liberal. I'd be a bit ticked if I read a book referring to the Irish as drunks or the Polish as stupid. There are plenty of books out there that don't use derogatory terms about your culture. Then again, on another posting here you yourself described all Indians as being violent beasts.
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  • Dizzle wrote...
    HEY jjmoore44!
    November 17, 2010 8:02 am
    What the heck are you doing leaving an intelligent comment on here? The comment area is only to be used by us simple-minded hot-heads for blaming dastardly "liberals" for all our problems. Please take your fancy book-learnin' elsewhere. It's too confusing to us. How do we know if you hate liberals or not? Thank you. (PS: Liberals suck!)
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  • BG_1981 wrote...
    I was assigned this book in high school...
    November 17, 2010 8:03 am
    and I am also of Native American background. I did not feel offended by it then, nor do I now. This book was published in 1932. Many things have changed since then, and I think it is fair to ask high school aged students to look back and see how society HAS changed. History is there to teach us. It is there to hopefully help us learn from our mistakes. That being said, I do not think anybody should be forced to read anything that makes them uncomfortable. Maybe having a second choice of literature that deals with the same premises of false happiness, consumerism, and totalitarian society for those who are uncomfortable with the first selection would be a fair option. Sense-Wilson stating, "Most of the kids I've talked to don't even like the book so I doubt it would even get an audience in the library." is really a moot point. What kid in high school likes to read any books that do not include vampires, warewolves, and sorcery. I think I was one of the rare few growing up that loved to immerse myself if literature of years past, if for nothing more than just to learn how points of view have changed and evolved. !984, Bless the Beasts and the Children, A Brave New World, As I Lay Dying, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Catcher in the Rye, and many more...almost all before 10th grade and again after. Who in this world likes everything and can go through life without being offended by something? Does that mean we should close ourselves off to learning? Information and knowledge is not always comfortable.
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  • artimus wrote...
    It sounds like the woman that's complaining
    November 17, 2010 8:11 am
    ...either didn't read the entire book or didn't 'get it'. If I didn't read material that's upsetting I'd never get through the Seattle Times sports page.
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