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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 (68)


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  • rational wrote...
    While the "liberals" are in a banning mood...
    November 17, 2010 8:19 am
    While you liberals are in the process of banning books (at least you've progressed from burning them), I'm sure we can add to that list of offensive books.

    BTW, Brave New World was written in 1931, so it shouldn't be shocking to find it has notions that are no longer the norm. How about banning Tom Sawyer and Huckelberry Finn...they use the N word frequently and blacks are considered inferior by many of the fictional characters.

    In fact, why don't we set up a government panel to dictate subject matter for all authors and parameters to limit unplesant attitudes they may hold?

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  • Niko wrote...
    Are you serious? Talk about over-reacting
    November 17, 2010 8:36 am
    BNW is one of my favorite books ever written. I only wish it would have been part of my high school curriculum. It's amazing fiction, and I read it on my own /during high school/. When the whole "savage native" thing came up in the book, I didn't think native american. I thought just... a person, a person who hadn't been integrated into the futuristic society. This book wasn't written to be offensive to the native people who have dealt with far too much crap and pain in the last few centuries. It was written to illustrate the danger of a reliance on technology. Also, people need to bear in mind of who wrote it and when it was written. This glorified crusade is a prime example of people who need to grow up and stop being children. I am disappointed in how everyone reacted to this situation, especially those parties who took it way to personally. This kind of stuff makes me loose faith in America. It's childish and stupid. They clearly missed the point of the book entirely and should re-evaluate how they respond to life as a whole.
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  • abbierhoad wrote...
    Political correctness??
    November 17, 2010 8:43 am
    It isn't even an American Book! It takes place in London, written by an Englishmen.. there were no Native Americans there. In 1932 this wasn't even an issue to the British... unless they were talking about the Irish. Please stop this silliness...
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Book pulled from curriculum and a apology
    November 17, 2010 8:47 am
    For NOT exposing her child to a book that many consider one of the BEST English novels of the 20th Century.I thought part of education was exposing people to DIFFERENT ideas.It would have been so refreshing if the school board had explained this to the lady and told her that they will continue to use the book. However everyone is scared to death of a lawsuit so they chose the path of least resistance
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    jp marine
    November 17, 2010 8:49 am
    And how is it that you conclude that this women is a LIBERAL?
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  • considerthis wrote...
    Brave New World Removal Disturbing: Native-Americans Idealized by Huxley
    November 17, 2010 8:50 am
    Ironically, the very depiction of Native Americans that Sarah Sense-Wilson takes offense to, is what I believe Aldous Huxley intended as praise for civilization and humanity in an otherwise inhumane and uncivilized “brave new world”. In BNW, those living in the “civilized” immoral world call the Native Americans “savages” for two main reasons: first, the Native Americans live in a natural environment without all the modern technological conveniences, and second, the “civilized” people have been brainwashed into believing that the family unit that still exists in Native American culture–mother/father/children–is wrong and uncivilized. In reality, by moral society’s standards, the Native Americans are civilized and the “brave new world” society is savage–I believe Huxley was using literary irony here. It is the main character, John Savage, who ultimately rejects the immoral, artificial, mechanized society that his mother came from in favor of the moral, self-sacrificing Native American society. Prophetically written nearly eighty years ago, Brave New World is a wake-up call to us–to use technology wisely or perish morally and spiritually. Sophomores should read this book—EVERYONE should read this book, as well as Brave New World Revisited–-and wake up from the stupor the media/popular culture has put us in.
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  • artimus wrote...
    Rational
    November 17, 2010 8:57 am
    There you go again (delivered in my best Reagan imitation). You know as well as I do that the misguided urge to ban books is entirely non partisan. I know that you're ever vigilant when it comes to calling out buffoons on the left; don't limit the fun by ignoring all of the wonderful opportunities on the other side of the aisle. I won't belabor the point by listing examples...
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  • artimus wrote...
    messiah101
    November 17, 2010 9:01 am
    Anything that doesn't pass muster with jpmarine would appear to be liberal.
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  • IdRatherBeBoating wrote...
    Go one step further- BAN THE BOOK!
    November 17, 2010 9:12 am
    That is the best way to assure more kids actually read it, and not just the Cliff's notes.
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  • daniel4 wrote...
    Let's all grow up
    November 17, 2010 9:19 am
    What about teaching kids to see beyond getting their "feelings hurt"? Hey, this is Earth all kinds of bad stuff happens here. Get over it. Get over some reference that offends you. Sense-Wilson needs to get over the past. Whining doesn't make the past go away. Brave New World makes valid points. It brings up areas of thought kids should explore. It's one of the classics.
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