Iconic children’s author’s work censored

classics include “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Matilda” and “James and the Giant Peach,” have been rewritten in an attempt to render them as less offensive and more inclusive.

sorship.” This public backlash has resulted in the publisher announcing that it will continue to publish the original texts alongside new edited versions.

tative from the author’s estate, new editions of the legendary works of best-selling British author Roald Dahl, whose children’s ccording to a represen-The news that these changes have been made has sparked widespread criticism and outrage from many novelists, such as Salman Rushdie, the prizewinning author of “Midnight’s Children” and “The Satanic Verses”. Rushdie described the revisions as “absurd cen-

More than 300 million copies of Dahl’s books have been sold, and they have been translated into 63 different languages. His works have also been widely adapted on both the big and small screens.

Dahl died in 1990, aged 76. An evaluation of his works began in 2020, before Netfix acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company, which controls the author’s copyrights and trademarks. The estate had worked with Inclusive Minds, a group that promotes accessibility and diversity in children’s books. While noting that the group did not “write, edit or rewrite texts,” Inclusive Minds said they “provide valuable input when it comes to reviewing language that can be damaging and perpetuate harmful stereotypes.” The Telegraph, a British newspaper, reported that at least 10 of

Dahls’ 19 children’s books had hundreds of words modifed or erased, including descriptions of characters’ appearances, races, and genders. Additionally, language relating to weight, mental health and violence had been removed or modifed. As part of this, descriptions that used the colors black and white as well as adjectives such as “fat” and “ugly” were eliminated.

Chief executive of PEN America, Suzanne Nossel, reacted angrily to the news about the revisions on social media. Nossel posted on Twitter that the organization was “alarmed” by the changes which had been implemented in “a purported effort to scrub the books of that which might offend someone.” She wrote that “If we start down the path of trying to correct for perceived slights instead of allowing readers to receive and react to books as written, we risk distorting the work of great authors and clouding the essential lens that literature offers on society.”

Matthew Dennison, who wrote a biography of Dahl, said that the author had a history of having problematic relationships with his editors and despised anyone who tampered with his work. Dennison remarked that Dahl always “resisted unnecessary sanitizing” and Dahl recognized that changes made to his books were a result of the political atmosphere that represented adult sensibilities rather than children’s concerns. Mr. Dahl once said, “I never get any protests from children. All you get are giggles of mirth and squirms of delight. I know what children like.”

The censorship of books within school districts is a timely issue. Recently in my English class we discussed the New York Times article, My Young Mind Was Disturbed by a Book. It Changed My Life. In the article, Nguyen argues that if schools ban books, children will be deprived of learning important values and historical events. Another thing he argues is that the reason books get banned is because of the parents, not children. It’s the parents who have an issue with the content of the books, and don’t want their children reading about it. I found this really interesting, and something that I never thought about, but agree with completely. “And perhaps that’s the real reason some people want to ban books that raise complicated issues: They implicate and discomfort the adults, not the children. By banning books, we also ban diffcult dialogues and disagreements, which children are perfectly capable of having and which are crucial to a democracy…Perhaps we will eventually have less war, less racism, less exploitation if our children can learn how to talk about these things,” Nguyen said. By banning books, we are just avoiding topics that need to be talked about. This got me thinking, why do some books get banned while others don’t? How do people categorize a “good” book that kids can read, vs. a “bad book” that kids cannot read? What content in books is considered bad? I believe that no books should be categorized as “bad.” Roald Dahl was indeed a controversial person, and many of the things he said and wrote troubles and offends me. Yet I don’t think censorship is the answer. I agree with author Philip Pullman who told BBC Radio 4 that Dahl’s books “should be allowed to fade away” and not be rewritten if judged by modern society to be offensive.