to think Of Mice and Men should not be cancelled?

[Florenz]

I read this on the BBC website today. Kids are upset because it contains the N word. I do not think it should be removed from the school curriculum. It's a classic work of literature, one of the few books we read at school that I genuinely enjoyed and read ahead of where we were in class because I wanted to find out what happened. We went to see the film with John Malkovich and Gary Sinise with school as well.

Good job it's not being cancelled then isn't it.

What makes it unsuitable though?

I spent a term studying Of Mice And Men and I don't even remember the "N" word being in it. I mostly remember how boring it was.

I think if a book is otherwise of literary value then the fact that it contains a word we now don't use, particularly if it is of its time and not contemporary literature, shouldn't be a reason to strike it from the syllabus. It should be a reason to have a discussion about the word used and how times and attitudes have changed.

There are probably much better books which could take its place on the syllabus, but not for this reason.

No one on this thread has said otherwise.

It’s still modern though. Even Victorian fiction is pretty modern…

I’m a teacher. I teach this text. I’m very happy for people to suggest that there are other, better texts to teach. What worries me is the idea that we shouldn’t teach texts because they deal with difficult issues. I agree that Steinbeck does seem to have been an unpleasant man (based more on other evidence than this text), but even so, the text clearly shows how horrific racism was in 1930s California and raises it as an issue.

I ban anyone in the room from using the n-word when we’re studying it. I explain why.

It bothers me a bit that people seem to be calling for it’s removal purely on race grounds when the misogyny is arguably just as bad. The treatment of Crooks is quite clearly shown to be awful. But even George (a ‘good guy’) despises all women and speaks of them in the most disgusting terms. This still doesn’t make me want to remove the book from the syllabus though - it just allows us to discuss how normal misogyny was (and is…).

I'm not saying this specific book is unsuitable @MargotBamborough I was responding to the idea that taking a book off a curriculum list is somehow "cancelling" it.

I said there's a discussion to be had. Not that it should be removed. The PP from a teacher that explains how they would teach this is a good example of a useful contribution to the discussion.

Learning how recent the N word was widely used is something that children should be aware of. Overt racism is not something that ended in the 1960s. So advising children that there is an offensive word and putting into the context of the time is something worth doing.

In 1979 given a choice, I think more people would have preferred Enoch Powell as Prime Minister than Margaret Thatcher. In the 1980s Conservative students wore badges saying 'hang Nelson Mandela'. To give examples.

Maybe it needs adaption in how it’s taught, I.e not reading certain passages out loud in the classroom. I don’t think it’s a reason to remove it from the syllabus necessarily.

I do think it’s a terrible book and hated reading it. So boring and I usually can read anything.

What has happened is, as a pp has said, it's been taken off the GCSE syllabus.

Because schools own many, many copies of it and also have schemes of work and the knowledge to teach it, it gets pushed down to key stage 3 classes. I have seen it taught in year 8.

Honestly, I think it is a work of art, but its linguistic simplicity belies the complexity of how the themes are presented. The only female character is problematically treated - she doesn't even have a name, FFS! And 12 yr olds aren't going to be able to deal with the nuance of representations of race, intelligence, ability, sex. There are so many wonderful books which they WILL enjoy and also will be able to engage with in a meaningful way. One of the purposes of English is to support people to think about the world and their place in it, their identity and human behaviour. OMAM is full of negative portrayals of life - why don't we choose something to celebrate life instead?

Read & understand would be a good start. There are so many posts where the posters have done neither

Rap is fucked then.

@User135644 grow up.

However the sad face story was pathetic. As if one book means you can’t do A Level.
I did that book at school and it was dull AF. Much preferred Dickens and even Shakey. Oh god and the Old Man and the Sea or something. So boring and all about men.
The N word and its history should not be shied away from but explored and i say that as a N myself in racists eyes!

Why should books get a special exemption above other media?

I don't think we should erase racism from the literature of the past, it's tantamount to denial. It needs to be taught in a sensitive way, though.

I don't think it will get cancelled and I also think it shouldn't be. You can teach books discussing sensitive topics in a good way, my daughter's English teacher is great with this and is very respectful and tells the kids exactly what's right and wrong etc. about it. Racism in literature did happen and we obviously shouldn't promote that but learning about it and how good it is things have changed is quite good imo.

Having taught this for the last 22 years, I wish it was removed from the WJEC GCSE spec.

I don't understand why books can't be taught in their historical, social, and cultural context? By the same token, you would be looking to take "To Kill a Mockingbird" off children's book lists, but I think it has extremely valuable lessons to teach, particularly in the context of Trump's America and its present-day legacy.

I didn't study Of mice and men at school so can't really comment on the book. I did study To kill a mockingbird, (alongside Roll of thunder hear My cry) which I think also uses language that is uncomfortable and offensive in this day and age.

Maybe I'm being simplistic but literature with themes and words that are challenging are part of learning, particularly with ever present issues like racism and have a place (where better than in a classroom) - understanding the past and why it was wrong is key to improving the future.

the Chrysanthemums" and
Professor of American literature at Queen's University Belfast Philip McGowan said teachers needed more detailed guidance on how to teach Of Mice and Men.
"We can't just eradicate books from the past and their contexts," he said.
"But if we are going to teach them in the 21st century we need to be alive to and aware of those contexts.

Yes - I haven’t yet seen an article in which students object to the misogyny in OMAM. Or indeed in any of their texts.

Other media shouldn't be cancelled either.

I have taught OMM many times (and never said the N word). I haven't taught it for about 8 years as I was more and more uncomfortable with the racism, misogyny, treatment of disabilities etc. also deals with prostitution and death. It's sad as lots of kids like it but there are better books that deal with the issues in a more modern way.

It's not it the curriculum

That BBC story does seem overblown. I agree with PP that it seems more like it should be in the Daily Fail!

I studied the book for GCSE English 20 years ago and there was very little discussion of the problematic parts then. I found the book dull (strange because I was a little English nerd who read anything and everything) and a lot of the broader themes just went over my head.

Thinking back, our teacher probably failed to put it in context properly or explain the issues brought up by the problematic language and depiction of women (which I only understood when listening to people talk about it years later at uni!) I should say I went to a struggling school in an overwhelmingly white, deprived area. I bet most teachers now do a far better job.

There are far better books to study at that age, I would say.

What about “A Handmaid’s Tale? It’s been an A Level text for years and yet it’s about women being forced into conceiving children by their male ‘owners’ Effectively about females being kept as sex slaves. Where is the sad student face over that one?

The whole point about studying literature is that sometimes it should be challenging and sometimes controversial. It’s also about the evolution of language and comparisons of social attitudes from the past. It should ignite passion and elicit response, negative or positive. It’s about learning how to put forward an eloquent argument for or against a particular author’s views and having free choice to express those opinions. If we keep sanitising literature, we are heading further down the totalitarian route of censorship.

There are plenty of other books that can be used instead.

There's no place for it on the NC if it causes upset, which it very much does for some students