In “Darkness too visible,” Gurdon discusses the problem of young adult fiction, which often appears to be too brutal and gory to be introduced to young readers (Gurdon, 2011). As Gurdon (2011) notices, many of the books explicitly use foul language and descriptions of violence and assaults, which can negatively influence adolescents’ view of the world. Although the author does acknowledge that some of the adolescents live in similar conditions every day, she believes that there is no need to depict such violent scenes in books for teenagers (Gurdon, 2011). The author supports her point of view by reviewing several young adult works and presenting the brutal scenes described in these books (Gurdon, 2011). Gurdon (2011) concludes that leaving out some of these scenes would be reasonable.
It appears that Gurdon (2011) misunderstood the point of introducing such flawed characters: they do not simply represent the marginalized populations, they also make readers aware of such populations and their life. Awareness of specific problems is something we all lack because we cannot relate to all the experiences in the world. However, books can. They become a window to a dark, unpleasant world that many of us prefer not to notice. I do agree with the author that some of these scenes are too brutal for young adults; however, I do not see anyone who is forcing young readers to read such stories. These stories can be appealing or disgusting, can be complicated or easy, but the main point of these stories is to be available to anyone who is interested in exploring such themes. Therefore, I would like to pose a question: can the lack of foul language and gore scenes positively influence readers’ view of the world?
Reference
Gurdon, M. (2011). Darkness too visible. The Wall Street Journal, 55. Web.