The Ethics of Darkness
PART FOUR: THE PATH UPWARDS
This continues my series on “The Ethics of Darkness” in children’s literature.
Young people read good and bad books at the most impressionable time of their lives, and their future—the future of us all—depends on their being fed the right kind (the healthy kind) of literature. If we, if everyone who writes books or reads books or is responsible for children, can all agree that we want the world to be a better place, then we must concentrate on the way literature can help us improve it. The problem we face is simple enough: books for kids are getting darker and not making the world of kids any better. The responsibility rests on the shoulders of all who have a hand in making, giving, and reading the books that will one day be in the hands of children. The solution is simple: stories must be provided which include darkness only in such a way that it will teach kids to avoid the same kind of darkness in real life. This must be done without immersing them in the actual experience of evil, for the method of immersion too often sinks the reader (especially the young reader) into the evil itself, rather than providing an admonition about it.
The path to changing children’s and young adult literature for the better should end up primarily under the control of two specific groups: writers and parents. Children, as recipients of literature and entertainment, as readers, are not equipped to deal sufficiently with the bombardment of graphic content that faces them. As my own mother would say, “there is a reason I am the mom, and you are my son. I know what is best for you.” Does anyone seriously believe that children can decide for themselves how much darkness, how much of the occult, how much of alcoholism, how much drugs or murder, rape or incest, pederasty or sexual experimentation they can handle in their reading? Most parents would agree that their children should not participate in these things in real life, especially at their young and impressionable age. Children simply do not have the discernment faculties and wherewithal that adults do. As parents, then, those who have children must take an active role in deciding what is good or bad, healthy or unhealthy for their children to read: the younger and less mature the child, the more active this role must be. The bottom line is that parents must regulate what their children read. They must be clear with their children about the boundaries of what books they may and may not read. They must ensure that their children stay away from the books that may harm them and have ample opportunity to read books that interest them, that improve their artistic and moral sense, that improve them generally, and that they can relate to.
Writers too must take a hand in effecting literature for the better. Without the authors there can be no new stories for our youth. We need writers to construct stories that better reflect goodness with an appropriate eye to showing young people the dangers of evil. This can be done creatively and engagingly without immersing readers in the graphic, corruptive proportions of the evil itself. “Can it really, though?” some might be tempted to ask. Yes, it can. Look at the classics. Look at all the books that have come before our time (which, by the way, is not very long. The trend I speak of began only a few decades ago, judging from the essay by O’Connor). Young people have always been able to find material for reading, because there is always someone willing to write. Only in very recent years, it would seem, has the collective group of writers decided that they must be graphic, intimate in darkness, and angst-filled in order to write a good entertaining book. Thus, it is not too much to hope that a move by writers to write more wholesome books will not only result in a better range of books to read, but in an overall improvement in the art of writing.
It is a massive undertaking, and any progress will require a heroic effort on the part of writers and parents both. But is there any price too high when it comes to raising the next generation? I hope that for all of us there is not. Besides, it may end up requiring less effort than most people would think, if one parent, one family, one writer at a time commits to making literature a healthier place for children and young adults. The change must begin somewhere, and it must begin soon. Why not with us? Why not now?
“‘I had forgotten that,’ said Eomer… ‘How shall a man judge what to do in such times?’‘As he ever has judged,’ said Aragorn. ‘Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man’s part to discern them, as much as in the Golden Wood as in his own house.’”—The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Well, folks, that’s it for the essay. I hope it got you thinking. Next week, for those who are interested, I’ll post my sources as well as some resources for those interested in investigating this topic and trend for themselves. Whether you’re a reader, a parent, or a writer, I hope you have read something meaningful here. It is certainly a meaningful topic for me, and I have no doubt that somewhere out there, it means something for someone else, too.