Tiki Tom
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The Scarlet Pimpernel was banned at my school. Well not exactly banned, more cold shouldered. Having just read through most of Wiki about The Pimpernel and the author, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why.
I think I know why. In the story, towards the end, there is a chapter titled “the jew”. In this chapter, the bad guy —a French representative of the revolution— throws just about every antisemitic stereotype at the Jew in question. It is pretty bad. However (spoiler alert!), it turns out that the much abused Jew is, in fact, the Scarlet Pimpernel in disguise. So, does all this make the book antisemitic? Or can it be argued that, because the hero of the story takes the abuse, it is actually a statement against antisemitism? I have heard arguments in both directions. I will say that, before getting to the conclusion, that particular chapter had me feeling pretty uncomfortable. Of course, the book was published In 1905, which makes one suspect that no lofty statements were being made; that is just how the world was in those days.