The Book as Social Commentary

The book has long been used as something more than just entertainment. Books have been used throughout history to teach lessons, instill morals, and challenge thinking. Throughout this blog, we will explore several books that have unique takes on social issues of their day. The social commentary they provide lasts long past their initial publication date. But, what is social commentary? Wikipedia defines social commentary as  "the act of using  rhetorical  means to provide commentary on issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace about a given problem and appealing to people's sense of justice" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_commentary). In an article for the Gulf News, reporter Manil Ismail interviewed several people about the impact of literature on their lives. He says, " Literature has had a major impact on the development of society. It has shaped civilizations change...

Book: The Hate U Give Author: Angie Thomas Publication Date: 2017 There are perhaps no bigger issues facing the United States right now than race relations and police brutality. There have been at least a dozen books written on the subjects in the last couple of years, but The Hate U Give  tackles the subjects with equal parts activism and acknowledged confusion. There is no question at the heart of this book. Starr Carter, the main character, watches her friend be shot and killed, unarmed, during a "routine" traffic stop. What follows is her coming to grips with her own part in the narrative, her willingness to stand up for what's right, and how her life (and the lives of those she loves) are forever changed by one moment of violence. The Hate U Give was turned into a movie in 2018 of the same name. Both the book and movie have been heralded as hard, honest looks at a crisis facing our world today, and how we all have to be better. The Hate U Give (book) was Nu...

Book: And the Band Played On Author: Randy Shilts Publication Date: 1987 There were two things terrifying people in the 80's: the constant threat of an all-out nuclear war with Russia and AIDS. Journalist Randy Shilts saw the AIDS epidemic exploding and wrote this ground-breaking book to talk about what having AIDS really meant, how the government reacted, and what it meant for our culture as a whole. Shilts started covering the AIDS epidemic in 1982, and he saw the limited scope with which people looked at the disease, as well as the people who had it, specifically the gay community at the time. And the Band Played On  is non-fiction, but not dry. This is a book told with passion and integrity, and a book that made people take a hard look in the mirror to make sure they were making the right assumptions about the right people. Winner and nominee for numerous awards, Shilts still thought the book fell short because it didn't elicit an immediate change in how people with...

Book: The Grapes of Wrath Author: John Steinbeck Publication Date: 1939 Maybe the first great American roadtrip novel, The Grapes of Wrath is about the Joads, tenant farmers in Oklahoma who have to leave their home because of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Desperate to find a better life somewhere, the Joads hit the road toward California, encountering tragedies and triumphs along the Mother Road.  Hailed as one of the best books ever written by numerous sources (Time Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, the Modern Library, Le Monde, The BBC Big Read) and winner of multiple awards (The 1939 National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction), The Grapes of Wrath is credited for helping win Steinbeck a Nobel Prize for Literature. In the speech at the awarding of the Nobel, Anders Osterling, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, said, " The Swedish Academy’s reason for awarding the prize to John Steinbeck reads, "for his realistic as well as imaginative wri...

Book: Uncle Tom's Cabin Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe Publication Date: 1852 Uncle Tom's Cabin  was the best selling novel of the 19th century and influenced opinions of slavery in profound ways. In fact, some people credit the massive readership of this book for pushing the Civil War into being. Stowe was an abolitionist from Connecticut who was inspired by another book,  The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself  and used it as an inspiration for her story of Tom, the long-suffering slave in her story.  Like any other story written almost 200 years ago, scholars and critics have a lot to say about Stowe and Uncle Tom's Cabin . Some people argue that Tom instead sold out to his white owners to save himself. But, no matter what people read into it, Stowe wanted Tom to be a character that challenged how people viewed slaves and gave them some humanity. On a personal note, I remember reading th...

Book: A Vindication for the Rights of Women Author:    Mary Wollstonecraft  Publication: 1792 This ground-breaking book is often considered the first book on feminism. Written at the end of the 18th century, A Vindication for the Rights of Women  deals primarily with the rights of women to be educated so that they can participate in the lives of their children and family in the best way possible. She says, “...men endeavor to sink us still lower, merely to render us alluring objects for a moment; and women, intoxicated by the adoration which men, under the influence of their senses, pay them, do not seek to obtain a durable interest in their hearts, or to become the friends of the fellow creatures who find amusement in their society.”   While there are definite feminist leanings in Wollstonecraft's work, it has also been criticized for it's particular type of feminism: she never equates men and women, for example. Wollstonecraft also speaks often...