Many works of literature are considered controversial. Novels like “The Catcher in the Rye” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” were sometimes banned in school classrooms for their suggestive content.

Here at FUHS, the novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which is being taught in Leonardo Indelicato’s AP/IB English Language and Composition class, has come under fire.

Many parents have voiced concerns about the book’s inclusion in the English curriculum and formulated a petition to ban the novel from FUHS classes.

Junior Noah Martinez responded with a petition of his own.

“They were saying it’s horrible and shouldn’t be read, but I disagreed with that,” said Martinez. “I think that more people should be able to get a chance to read this book and have the same opportunity that we got to have, rather than just have it taken away.”

Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” (1984) is known to be controversial, as it tells the story of Offred, a woman, struggling to return to the freedoms and identity she once knew before the political system was hijacked out of fear. The novel is set in a dystopian universe and is told from first-person perspective, allowing the reader to experience how a woman feels during a time of oppression under totalitarian rule.

The book voices a strong message and contains mature scenes, such as the men’s multiple attempts to impregnate Offred, who, as a handmaid, is required to reproduce or be sent away to the “Colonies”, where the sterile people shovel toxic waste. Some parents are concerned because they consider this graphic and not family-friendly.

However, Indelicato had warned his students about the mature content of chapters 16 and 20 and permitted them to skip over those chapters, as well as omit them from the assignments.

“My thought about “The Handmaid’s Tale” is that you cannot talk about the subjugation of women—the oppression of women—without talking about sexual exploitation. You can’t. Those things are interconnected,” Indelicato said. “For me to even suggest that a student shouldn’t read a certain chapter, I think is a mistake. I think they should be required to read all the chapters in the book, as it is assigned. But, I am willing to concede, if that’s what it will take for a parent to be comfortable with the work.”

The book is on the Fullerton Joint Union High School District and IB approved lists of literature and has shown up on the AP test in previous years. “This is obviously a work of merit and recognition. I’m not in the least bit concerned about this,” Indelicato said.

“I mainly started the petition because I heard of a petition going around that was anti-“The Handmaid’s Tale” because of its ‘extreme content’ and stuff like that,” Martinez said. Indelicato said he welcomes the anti-“The Handmaid’s Tale” petition, as it would allow a dialogue between him and the parents concerned about the wellbeing of their children, but did not ask students to create a defensive petition for him.

Martinez posted the petition to www.change.org last Tuesday and it has since received over 100 signatures. Supporters include current students, close family of the students and former AP/IB students of FUHS. 

Many supporters left comments on the petition, stating why they believe the novel should remain a part of AP/IB English Language and Composition curriculum.

Although most students agree with the petition, others have voiced their opinions denouncing the novel as well.

“I like the message and the premise, but I think it’s just too mature to be forced upon this audience of the eleventh grade level,” said junior Joshua Wolfe. “It’s a college level class, but we’re not college kids.”

Wolfe said his parents were extremely disturbed by chapters 16 and 20 and did not allow him to read them. “It’s not even those chapters; there’s still cursing and references to those two chapters in other chapters of the book,” Wolfe said.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s as bad as other works that are out there that are approved by the district,” Indelicato added.

Find the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/rani-goyal-keep-margaret-atwood-s-the-handmaids-tale-a-part-of-our-ap-ib-curriculum?source_location=minibar