Forbidden Texts

Prof. Al-Tikriti's FSEM

Author: Annabelle

The Turner Diaries: Hatred Wrapped in a Faux Historical Fiction?

November 20, 2025 /

I don’t think I’ve ever read something as filled with hatred for non-white people as The Turner Diaries. Before getting into the content of the book, first, I want to touch on who the author was and his background, because it’s a doozy. Andrew Macdonald, or should I say William Pierce (his real identity), was a white supremacist and Neo-Nazi. He founded the National Alliance, aka a white supremacist and Neo Nazi political organization, so hatred wasn’t a foreign concept to him. According to his peers, he was relatively disliked as a person throughout his life, despite keeping his personal politics hidden from others at first. Furthermore, this disgusting amalgamation of hate inspired a massive terrorist attack known as the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, which resulted in the deaths of 167 people.

Moving to the book itself, I just want to start off by saying that I hate how it’s written. Pierce (or Macdonald) writes as though this is a real diary found from whatever fictional era it was written in, much like the previous text we’ve discussed: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Speaking of, I wanted to point out how ridiculous his portrayal of the “enemy” is compared to his Neo-Nazi ideals. The people who enforce the “Cohen Act,” or the anti-gun regulations, are depicted with green armbands worn on their left arms. This amuses me due to the fact that Nazi’s also wore their armbands on their left arms, meaning he accidentally is comparing a group of people he hates to a group he seemingly looks up to and agrees with most of their ideals. Maybe it’s just me, but if you agree with a group so much that you found your own political organization based on their ideals, you might realize that this unintentional comparison seems like an extremely stupid mistake to make.

Overall, the direction this book takes is one of white oppression by minorities, specifically black people. It follows the story of Earl Turner, who is depicted as the hero of this story, when his last act is being forced to crash his plane equipped with a nuclear weapon into the Pentagon. This work reads very similarly to pretty much any other fictional diary-based piece of literature, with the exception of the hatred and slurs laced throughout the text. From the beginning of the text, it’s very easy to tell that it was written with hatred in mind, as it immediately starts off establishing black people as the enemy and saying some very disgusting things about their characters and ideals.

In the end, this book was just a perverted fantasy of a far-right, white supremacist, neo-Nazi. I feel absolutely disgusted after reading how he truly regards those of not only a different race, but even those of his own race who happen to have darker skin. The end of the book comes just as horrifying as the beginning, with mass killings of all non-white people. Overall, I absolutely hate this text and everything it stands for. I can’t imagine someone having so much hate for everyone different from them to the point of creating some sick work of fiction where he can criticize, dehumanize, and kill every group of people he deems inferior.

Ted Kaczynski: His Manifesto and Its Context.

November 18, 2025 /

Ted Kaczynski, or better known as the Unabomber, was a very interesting individual. From applying to Harvard at 16 and getting his undergraduate there, to completing his PHD at the University of Michigan, and finally working as an assistant professor at the University of California at Berkley, he was a very bright individual. He did have some decidedly unique views on the world, as shown in his disdain for modern society after he left his job at Berkley. Kaczynski moved to a cabin in Montana that had no heat, electricity, or running water—a clear indicator of his hatred of technology. He later began his 17-year-long bombing campaign, which killed 3 and injured 23, and only stopped with the publishing of his manifesto in The Washington Post.

I actually found this work interesting regarding the basis of its message. Essentially, Kaczynski feels like the world has gone downhill since the Industrial Revolution. I do disagree with his critique of certain activist groups, as I feel the ones he named (i.e., Feminist, Animal Rights, Gay, Disability Activists, etc.) have done more good than bad as a whole in society. I feel like if he truly wanted people to agree and resonate with his text, criticizing some of the most popular activist groups at the time was not the way to go about it, but maybe that’s just me. It feels like he’s dismissing certain social issues as unimportant while simultaneously trying to herald his issue as more important, when in reality, most of these issues are interconnected. But that’s a discussion for another time.

I also found his discussion of the issue of “oversocialization” very intriguing. He makes the claim that those who are oversocialized are more likely to be overly influenced by societal pressures and the need to act in accordance with society’s expectations. I feel like this can actually be seen today, with the overwhelming desire to fit in, especially as social media has become the forefront of many social interactions. Often, people feel like they have to fit into certain molds in order to fit in with others, meaning that conformity on the basis of social pressure has become increasingly common in today’s world. Furthermore, I agree with his take that such oversocialization can lead to feelings of shame and inadequacy if one does not meet every single expectation enforced upon them.

Finally, Kaczynski’s definition of freedom stood out to me. He defines it as the ability to be in control of one’s own life, not having the power to control others, but their own circumstances instead. He also mentions the fact that the degree of personal freedom a person has is determined more by economics than it is the laws written by the government. I find myself conflicted with this point, because while I do agree that economics is a very large driving factor in the fact that certain people are afforded more freedoms than others, I also think it comes down to government as a whole as well. Unlike Kaczynski, I think economics and governments go hand-in-hand when determining freedoms, as those with less funds do have less freedom, but the system keeping people poor is the current government we have in place.

Overall, I think that this was a very thought-provoking piece, but I definitely don’t agree with his method of getting his voice heard. I feel like his ideas could have been taken more seriously had he not criticized other social issues, and more importantly, used violence as a means to gain attention and protest against the “industrial society.” Personally, I did find myself sitting with my thoughts as I read this piece, comparing it to current ideologies I see in the world, which I always find fun when a text is able to get me to do that. I think he definitely could’ve been onto something, yet his means of delivery were not forgivable or respectable in any manner.

Anarchists Cookbook: A Few Simple Recipes to End Up on the FBI’s Watchlist

October 21, 2025 /

Personally, this was one of the more interesting books I think I’ve read. If you told me at the beginning of the year I’d be in a class where I got to read about how to grow weed and make TNT, I would’ve laughed…but here we are. As I was doing a bit of research on this book, I found it interesting to learn that William Powell wrote it when he was only 19 and now regrets it’s publication. What was supposed to be a recipe book for average Americans to protect themselves against the government, turned into a tool that criminals and terrorists used for exploitation and villainous acts against other common folk. The reasons that Powell wrote this book also served as a point of interest, as it was a catalyst for his frustration about US involvement in the Vietnam war.

Going into the text itself for a moment here, I found the prefatory note by P.M. Bergman very wordy and hard to follow in most spots. However, it did give me insight into certain aspects of anarchism that I was otherwise unfamiliar with. The point made that stood out to me most was the fact that anarchism was supposed to be a nonviolent movement, which contrasts heavily with what is spread in the media about anarchism even today. Moving on to the foreword written by Powell, I found it interesting that the main purpose of the book was to educate the masses instead of being a call to action. Powell also discussed the fact that the idea of a Revolution in his mind is bringing America back to “how she was 200 years ago,” which would’ve been right around the time America was founded as its own country. This made me wonder if he meant the time when we first established our own government and founded the ideals of Democracy in America.

Regardless of what he meant by that point, the rest of the book is just wild. Powell describes how to make just about anything illegal, which also brings into question just how he knows all of this. This is indeed a recipe book, like you want to learn the best way to ingest coke? Here’s a step-by-step breakdown on which method works best. Need a silencer for a pistol? Here’s the exact steps on making one. It’s such a wild thing to read through, and it baffles me that this book is still in circulation to this day. Despite many criminals citing the book as inspiration for things, it still has not been banned due to issues surrounding free speech, which just brings up another discussion on what books have the properties that allow banning in certain states but that’s a conversation for another day. Overall, these are some wild things to just put in a book for the public to have, and I can see why he might regret writing this as he grew up in life.

SCUM Manifesto: The Plans for an All-Female Society

October 15, 2025 /

For starters, S.C.U.M. stands for Society for Cutting Up Men, which is exactly what this text was about. The author, Valerie Solanas, begins the text by introducing the idea of an all-female society. She then goes on to blatantly insult the entire male species, calling them emotional cripples who are egocentric and incapable of empathy, love, and even friendship. She says men have it worse off than apes, only because they have the capability of feeling negative emotions such as jealousy, shame, and guilt. Furthermore, she goes on to discuss the idea of male sexuality, calling men walking dildos and saying the only reason they try so hard to get off using women is to prove their “manliness.”

Solanas then states that all men want to be women, and want to make women men. They try to claim female qualities such as emotional strength and assertiveness while pushing male qualities such as vanity and frivolity onto women. The very idea that men want to screw women all the time is brought about by the attempt to hide their desire to be female. She states that drag queens are the closest to being female, as they accept the feminine parts of themselves, but they are still lacking things that make them female. And on an even stranger note, she shifts her attention to the current economic status of the world and criticizes capitalism before she gets back into criticizing men.

The rest of the text is broken up into certain aspects of life and how men negatively impact said aspects, such as individuality and privacy. At the end of her text, she discusses how S.C.U.M. is actually a movement and a group of people, dedicated to eradicating the male race. It feels almost like a call to action, imploring readers to take her words as truth and to turn against men completely. Overall, I felt a sense of intrigue while reading. The text itself seems almost like a satire with how extreme her ideas are and how exaggerated the impact of men on the world is. However, it does seem like her words come from a place of truth. Looking deeper into the text, it could almost be a criticism of the patriarchy as a whole, and the fact that societal “norms” have been coined that way due to the ideals of men.

Personally, I found the text an interesting read if nothing else. I agree with her criticism of men to an extent; however, I don’t think we should eradicate men from the world entirely. I do feel that the patriarchy has a more negative impact than it does good, and that we need to reevaluate the worth of women in the world, especially as conservative ideals seem to be becoming popular in mass media, and the idea of being a traditional housewife is being pushed more than it has been in recent years.

Paper Abstract: Echoes of Nazism in the US

October 8, 2025 /

Topic Overview: In this paper, I hope to explore the parallels between Nazi Germany and the current administration in the United States. I will hopefully accomplish this by studying the martyrdom of Horst Wessel and comparing his death to that of far-right political activist, Charlie Kirk. In today’s world, we’ve seen governments of many different countries being overthrown in favor of far-right/conservative ideologies. Just a few days ago, Japan elected its first Female Prime Minister, but certain news outlets have discussed the fact that she has very fascist ideologies. Even in the US, we have seen the rise of the same ideologies in the popularity of the current MAGA movement. People are being censored to extremes, the media is being controlled under a tight leash, and our President is trying to promote himself as pretty much the sole leader of the country.

The big questions I wish to answer here are: Is Charlie Kirk the martyr for MAGA the way Horst Wessel was for Nazi Germany? What are the current administrative and legal parallels between the MAGA movement and the Nazi Party, if any? Is there any real threat in the bolstering of the Executive branch powers as we’ve recently seen, and is this a potential leeway into a totalitarian government? Is propaganda to be blamed for the devolution into what we call our government in the US today?

My potential source ideas would be The Holocaust Encyclopedia, Academic Journals discussing the Holocaust and Hitler’s rise to power, news articles discussing the current happenings in the Trump administration, and academic journals discussing the power of propaganda and its potential/past devastating effects.

My Experience at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

September 29, 2025 /

Walking into the museum, I didn’t really know what to expect. During my K-12 education, we touched on the Holocaust multiple times in various world history courses, but I never knew just how extreme it actually was. The first thing that stood out to me was the fact that Germany had expanded into way more countries and territories than I had learned in school, and that concentration camps were found as far north as Norway and as far south as Africa. This was one of the first things the museum discussed when it came to the Nazi takeover of Germany and the following takeover of surrounding countries and even knowing this and using my previous knowledge from school, I wasn’t prepared for just how terrible the events of the Holocaust and those leading up to it were.

A heavy sense of sadness and grief seemed to flood my senses upon venturing further into the museum. Nothing could’ve prepared me for what I would read and even see in the videos and pictures throughout the installation, and I think that is a very important thing. So many people don’t understand just how severe the effects of the Holocaust were/are, and I think it’s very important for others to come to this museum so that they may further educate themselves on the topic. I knew that the Nazi’s didn’t like those with physical or mental disabilities, but I didn’t know that they ordered doctors and nurses throughout Germany to kill those with such disabilities in something that they dubbed the “euthanasia program.” Over 250,000 people were put to death in this program, including the elderly and children alike. I also learned that the Nazi’s would forcibly sterilize those who were mixed race with Jewish, which is just another addition to the atrocities committed in the name of a “perfect” nation.

It is so important to educate oneself, especially when it comes to major world events and issues such as mass genocide. Without going to the museum, I don’t think I would’ve ever learned about what happened and to the extent such events occurred. Even just being in the presence of the remnants and artifacts from the Holocaust had me filled with such an indescribable feeling of dread and an overall heaviness. The quotes from survivors practically moved me to tears as I saw a certain parallel being drawn with some of the mindsets of today. Specifically, the quote, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me- and there was no one left to speak for me” -Martin Niemöller.

We look at Nazi Germany and wonder how such a thing occurred and why so many people were fine with or even actively participated in the atrocities that happened, but we never ask ourselves if something like this can happen again. We like to think that we learn from history, but in reality, so much history is obscured by those who write the textbooks, and it’s obvious to me how much is obscured from the curriculum, considering how much I learned just from one museum trip compared to my 12 years in public school. I wish more about history were taught in schools, maybe then we wouldn’t be falling into the same patterns of history that we’ve come to know as bad, but we can’t even acknowledge when it’s happening to us.

Overall, the visit was very impactful on me and my view of the Holocaust. The things I learned and the patterns I recognized will definitely serve me positively regarding my understanding of history and human nature. I highly recommend everyone go to this museum, or even do their own research further into what happened, as we aren’t taught much about it in school.

Mein Kontext: The Context Behind Mein Kampf

September 24, 2025 /

Hitler:

Before I get too much into the context surrounding the piece of text itself, I’d like to discuss who Hitler was and what led him to write Mein Kampf. Hitler was born in Austria in 1889, which makes his statements in the chapters of Mein Kampf I read completely hypocritical. He attacks the idea of naturalization and becoming a citizen of a country one wasn’t born in, and yet he did the same thing himself. As a child, it appears that Hitler feared and disliked his father, while he was very much a mama’s boy, and he never made it past his secondary education (or middle to high school here). He found solace in creating art, so he applied and failed to get into the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna twice. After this seeming defeat, he got himself enlisted in the army during WWI by practically begging the King to do so after he failed his physical examination. He was actually awarded for his time in the military with both the first- and second-class Iron Cross for his bravery on the front lines.

After this, Hitler decided to take up the life of politics and joined the German Workers Party (later called the Nazi Party). He did so in 1919, and by 1920, he was promoted to creating propaganda for the group. After a few tussles with the leaders due to differences in ideals regarding the party’s true intentions, Hitler became the leader of the (now) Nazi Party in 1921. Hitler was then convicted of high treason in 1923 for his attempt to overthrow the current German Republic. He was sentenced to serve 5 years in prison, but ended up only serving 9 months.

Mein Kampf:

Hitler’s time in prison is what led to Mein Kampf being written. He began to work on this text while he was in Landsberg prison in hopes that it would create some revenue and bolster his political status once again. His first edition sold 10,000 copies, so a second edition soon followed, yet it wasn’t as popular. That was until 1930, when the Nazi Party won 107 seats in the German Parliament and then increased to 230 by the spring of 1932. By the end of 1932, almost 230,000 copies had been sold in Germany, and that number just continued to increase after he was appointed Chancellor in 1933, which increased the number to 850,000. Finally, by the end of 1944, over 12 million copies had been printed with special editions such as braille, an edition for newlyweds, and a special copy for Hitler’s 50th birthday. Obviously, this book was extremely influential in Germany, and it eventually led to what we know as the Holocaust. The hatred woven between the words of Mein Kampf led to the rise of Nazism and the overall death of 6 million Jews by the end of the Holocaust.

Today, this book is still considered extremely taboo and dangerous in many countries due to its dire effect on an entire religion and race. Austria, Poland, and the Netherlands have Mein Kampf outright banned, while Israel prohibits the distribution of the book. Germany also used to have the book banned, but in 2016, this decision was lifted, and now annotated editions are allowed to be circulated. France and Russia have certain restrictions still, and while the US and the UK don’t have set boundaries regarding the books’ distribution, many sellers keep this book off shelves due to its ethical concerns. Overall, this one text had extremely detrimental impacts on society as a whole, proving just how effective propaganda can be in times of stress and hardship. Due to high tensions in Germany after WWI, the people turned their backs on an entire group and blamed them for all of their hardships, just as Hitler had hoped for.

Mein Kampf: Volume 2, Chapters 3 & 4. Immigration and Politics

September 23, 2025 /

Chapter 3:

Hitler starts this chapter by breaking the German state into two current groups: Citizens and Aliens. He defines citizens as those who have their full civic rights either by birth or through naturalization, while aliens are those who “enjoy” these rights within another state. He then goes on to criticize Germany’s current immigration enforcement, stating that it’s too easy for one to be considered German, no matter where their country of origin is. He’s upset that race plays no part in the decision of whether or not someone can become a German citizen, and also states that Germany doesn’t have a care for their citizens’ health, as they don’t consider health status either during the naturalization process. Furthermore, he detests the fact that those who become German citizens through naturalization aren’t forced to do military service, yet they are still allowed the same rights as other German citizens.

As he’s laying out his different grievances with the current immigration system in Germany, he commends the United States for limiting its immigration based on health and, most importantly, race. Hitler then concludes that not only does Germany need stricter immigration regulations, but people need to be defined by three categories instead of the current two: citizens, subjects of the state, and aliens. Subjects of the state are defined as those who are born in Germany and are therefore subject to German laws, but who have not reached the state of citizenship. For men, citizenship comes only after military service, and whether or not they are found to be in good physical and mental status. For women, citizenship is acquired through marriage or by working if they deem themselves independent.

Overall, this chapter discusses his take on current immigration enforcement and how he thinks he could do better. It’s disturbing to see him commend the United States for our enforcement, and it’s even more disturbing to think about how he’d view our current regulations based on racial profiling, since it’s known he has a racial preference in his perfect country. Parallels can be seen with this hatred for those who aren’t “truly” German, and the Nationalism certain groups in the USA display today.

Chapter 4:

In this chapter, Hitler discusses how race is an important identifier for a man’s worth, but it cannot be based solely on race due to intellectual differences between those of the same race. This is also when he introduces his idea of an Authoritarian government, with a sole leader who controls everyone. He discusses how leadership should not be based on a majority vote, but on a man’s personality ruling alone. He attacks the ideas of the democratic system of voting, fair wages, and bridging the gap between the rich and poor, stating that these ideas are what create a weak society and government.

Most importantly, he hates the idea of a collective. He states that the individual is more important than the whole, and that inventions and ideas that have come to help those in the present are the work of a single man’s mind and not that of a collective. He then goes on to attack the Jewish people and how they are allegedly trying to dismantle the idea of the importance of the individual, and also attributes Marxism to the Jewish people and their ideals as a whole. (Let it be noted that while Karl Marx was ethnically Jewish, he was an atheist and had no Jewish education.) Going along with this idea of the collective being “evil,” he also attacks the idea of workers’ Unions and calls them a Jewish invention.

In this chapter, the idea of one ruler is the overarching theme. Hitler’s hatred for the collective mind and his emphasis on those individuals whom he deems intellectually superior for “inventing” can also be seen today within the United States. In the current administration we are under, it feels as though the collective of Congress has no power over the President anymore, and he seems to try to rule unchecked, just as Hitler did. The emphasis of Unions and collectives being “evil” can also be seen, with peaceful protests being called violent, and our president calling for the end of criticism against him. In today’s world, the collective is an idea many are trying to destroy, as it has been seen that the collective is actually able to do a lot more than a single individual when it comes to change.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: When, Where, and Why?

September 18, 2025 /

As stated in my previous entry, this book was an entirely falsified text claiming to have been written by the “Elders of Zion” or leaders of a secret underground alliance of the Jewish population. This reading was first published in 1903 in a Russian newspaper titled Znamia (translation: banner). The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was originally written in Russian, and a few years later, it was translated into English, French, and German.

The popularity of this work suddenly rose in about 1917, at the same time, the Bolshevik Party overthrew the current Russian rulers. Due to this sudden Communist takeover in Russia, many people believed there was something more “sinister” behind Communism and started to spread the false rhetoric that the Jewish people were responsible for Communism as a whole. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion only furthered this belief as it specifically laid out how the Jewish people would take over different countries and treat those who don’t follow Judaism.

The edition that I read was Henry Ford’s early 1920s edition, which was translated into English. Henry Ford was inspired by this text to write The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem, which later served as inspiration for none other than Hitler himself. This work was found to be false in 1920 when a British journalist named Lucien Wolf published a book exposing the Protocols to be falsified information that was heavily copied from a French political satire, Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu.

As of present research, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion still retains significance in Russia, and a newer edition of the book even tried to blame Jewish people for COVID-19. Some versions completely deny that the Holocaust even happened (despite so much extreme evidence that it very much did). Overall, the antisemitic rhetoric that was created with this text is still very much prevalent today in many different cultures across the world and is used as an excuse to punish and oppress the Jewish people even currently.

Sources: Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Encyclopedia Britannica and Holocaust Encyclopedia.

Protocols of the Elders of Zion: A Master Class in Fearmongering

September 15, 2025 /

As the title of this blog entry suggests, this piece of text utilizes fearmongering to an extent I’ve only usually seen in rightwing propaganda on Fox News or Facebook. In an age already full of tensions, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion serves to further the narrative that Jewish people are up to no good.

Firstly, this book is an entirely falsified document someone wrote up to try and convince the greater population that Jewish people were secretly working to overthrow the entire world. The ideas of total control and manipulation are utilized in a disgusting way to try and say that the Jewish people have been controlling everything from the media to governments across the entire world. The idea that the Jewish people will profit by keeping the world at war and unaware of their true intentions serves to further the idea of fear that everyone should have in regards to this situation that has been entirely falsified as a means of excusing antisemitism.

Looking further into this text, terrifying parallels are formed between what this book claims Jewish folks are trying to do and what the Nazi party actually did. The idea that they control the press and what ideas can be put into circulation is exactly what Hitler did when establishing his regime. The idea of total control over a population and the complete exile of a group is also mirrored, with the Jewish supposedly taking advantage of the Gentiles (Christians), when in reality, the opposite soon proved to be true. The constant repetition of threats that increase in severity also further serves to build that fear and distrust against the Jewish population.

This book and its effects on the world prove how dangerous propaganda can be. With the idea spreading that this was, in fact, a real document leaked from the Jewish leaders regarding taking over the world and taking control over others, it only further served to increase the rising hatred against Jewish people. Fearmongering is very real and can be seen today with the rising conflicts in politics, especially from the right and their hatred of all things progressive. In this case, the fear and growing distrust that was only furthered by literature such as this led to a genocide of millions of Jewish people and those who were deemed “other” than the mass population in Germany. Misinformation spreads hatred, and hatred leads to distrust and eventually, like this case, all-out wars against a people and a whole religion.

120 Days of Sodom: What Was de Sade Trying to Do?

September 11, 2025 /

Before diving into the book’s context, let’s discuss who de Sade was. Marquis de Sade was a known libertine, or someone who challenges moral principles, usually in a sexual manner. As this book was being written, de Sade was in prison for the umpteenth time due to his sexually explicit behaviors and crimes. Taking this into account, it seems like 120 Days of Sodom could’ve been written as a memoir of sorts regarding his own sexually explicit acts and fantasies he wanted to act on. Contrarily, this book could also be a bastardized satire regarding the elite classes of France and their actions against the people. This book was written in 1785, or just 4 years before the French Revolution, so political tensions would’ve most definitely been high at this point.

Taking a look at our characters in the book, all four of the “offending” men hold positions of power. You have the Duc de Blangis, a figurehead of nobility; the Bishop, who serves as a figurehead of the church; Durcet, a banker or someone dealing in finances; and finally, the President de Curval, who served as a judge in the courts. All of these characters represent those of the elite class in France, people who would not have been looked at fondly during this time the book was being written. It is very plausible, considering their positions and actions within the novel, that this was a book written to poke fun at this class. However, it seems the book was never finished as the ending devolves into a bulleted listing of events, so we may never know de Sade’s true intent behind 120 Days of Sodom. There is further convincing evidence of satire being the case, due to how corrupt the elites of France were at the time. The fact that de Sade mentions that every character has a hand in the murders of others could be a commentary on how the elite would execute those of the lower classes and those who opposed their rulings.

Currently, it seems as though the original text sits in the form of a scroll in the Museum of Letters and Manuscripts in Paris, France. It’s unclear as to how many copies of this book exist today, but it is noted that this work is still controversial to this day. Was de Sade a secret author of satire, or was this novel perverted just for the sake of perversion? We may never know, but I can say for certain that it is extremely disturbing in content, and even if satire was indeed his angle, it could’ve been achieved with less pedophilia and sexual torture.

120 Days of Sodom: More Like 397 Pages of Torture and Disgust

September 8, 2025 /

I rarely read a book and immediately want to go back in time to prevent myself from doing so. Still, Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom definitely takes the cake for arguably the most disturbing piece of literature I’ve ever read. No amount of forewarning could’ve prepared me for what this book would entail, and no amount of bleach or head trauma could ever remove the words I’ve read from my brain.

TW: Pedophilia, Torture, Sexual Assault, and pretty much every other disturbing sexual deviancy under the sun.

Firstly, I think de Sade is a horrible author. Not only is his writing extremely pompous and flowery for no reason, but he also takes 67 WHOLE PAGES to world-build and introduce our main characters. Never in my life did I think I would be reading 67 pages containing character descriptions such as sexual fantasies and member size. I won’t go too much into it, but let’s just say I was ready to quit after page 11. On page 68, de Sade finally gets onto the plot…or lack thereof. For the next 300 or so pages, the book basically follows a formula: the characters wake up, eat while having nude children serve them, engage in sexual acts with practically everyone under the sun, listen to some Wattpad-quality sexual stories some old ladies tell them, eat again, and go off to bed with their choice of victims for the night. It was so monotonous in such an awful way, there was barely any plot or development in these pages. It felt like section 1 was reserved for de Sade to write out his own sexual fantasies under the guise of his four main characters, who are all equally disturbed and grotesque.

Then, our book just tumbles into this dark pit of debauchery. Sections 2-4 are written as a bulleted list of different sexual stories from these old ladies that steadily increase in torment and violence. At the end of the book, they literally start torturing their old and new wives alike, and even kill most of their sexual partners. Every single act described in this book feels as though it comes from the pits of hell itself; it’s that debauched and disturbing. At this point in the reading, I started to question my own sanity while reading: “Surely this can’t be the entire book…right?” It was.

Furthermore, I genuinely cannot fathom why de Sade would write such a piece of literature if not to express his own disturbing fantasies. For the life of me, I cannot make out a single message or lesson to be learned from this book besides the fact that it made me want to invent time travel just to go back and prevent myself from reading it. I can perfectly understand why this text is considered forbidden, because who in their right mind would want to read 397 pages about sexual torture and pedophilia? I mean, besides the people who engage in such activities themselves, who are such scummy people, maybe they would indeed enjoy the horrendous activities in this novel.

Overall, I implore whoever reads this blog to NEVER read this book unless you want to be subjected to undue horrors and atrocities. Marquis de Sade is a freak, and this book definitely corroborates this claim. I have nothing good to say about it, and I wish to never read anything similar ever again.

A Modest Proposal: A Satirical Take on Poverty

September 4, 2025 /

Poverty continues to run rampant in America, especially with the rising cost of living and a national minimum wage that can barely support one person (let alone an entire family). That said, Johnathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” definitely has some real-world application today. Obviously, I’m not talking about eating children or considering a woman’s only role to be a “breeder,” but the overall ideas and messages within this work are still seen even in the 21st century.

A key idea following the poverty that Swift discusses his country going through is that of a food shortage in families, specifically due to a lack of funds. The very idea of eating babies comes from the lack of nutritional foods that impoverished families can afford, especially when they need to feed children as well. This issue can be found in America today, where many families choose the cheapest options instead of the most nutritious. A few years ago, fast food was the main choice for those who couldn’t afford a lot in terms of food. However, today, fast food can be just as expensive as a home-cooked meal, if not even more pricy. So, the question of what these impoverished families eat is left to question. Although his idea of eating babies seems absurd, it highlights the very important issue of a lack of resources for those who are not well off.

Furthermore, Swift mentions the fact that if babies were to be of such a high value, men wouldn’t beat their wives anymore, as it could cause a potential miscarriage. Again, as absurd an idea as this is, he makes a very good point. Domestic abuse is very real and becomes even more prominent when funds are tight and the origin of the next meal isn’t certain. More often than not, abuse in impoverished families is swept under the rug and almost becomes an expectation at times. So not only is Swift commenting on the fact that the poor are struggling to find food and funds, but they are also experiencing even more abuse from the ones closest to them.

Overall, despite the many…interesting ideas conveyed in this work, the overarching theme is one of great importance. Poverty doesn’t just affect a single family; it is a societal issue that is multifaceted in its effects on families and the world as a whole. Personally, I can see parallels in some of the issues Swift mentions with issues our world faces today. As outrageous as this proposal may be, it’s truly a call to action to help those in need before the entire world plunges into poverty and disrepair.

Forbidden Scripture: The Gospels of Mary Magdalene and Judas

September 3, 2025 /

Most early Christian scriptures and writings have been lost over time, and the religion of Christianity as we know it today is a condensed and simplified version of many different gospels and teachings. Not only have scriptures simply been lost over time, but some of them were also purposefully left out when the New Testament was canonized. Both the Gospels of Mary Magdalene and Judas seem to be the latter in my opinion, simply because of how much they challenge how we understand Christianity and its fundamental values. In the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the idea of why Jesus’ death is so important is rendered obsolete when he himself preaches that sin doesn’t necessarily exist, and the only true way to interpret his teachings and messages is to find inner peace with oneself. In an age of Christianity where sin and the idea of asking for forgiveness for sins alike are seen as one of the most basic fundamental building blocks of the religion, the very idea that sin doesn’t exist challenges a lot of how we understand and interpret the different books of the canonized Bible. Furthermore, in the Gospel of Judas, Jesus practically mocks his disciples for thinking they could ever truly “know” him and his purpose on Earth. He criticizes their understanding of his teachings and of God himself, as the god that the disciples seem to be worshiping isn’t the all-powerful God that modern-day Christianity discusses. It seems in this scripture, there is a second lesser being that was sent down by the all-knowing deity, and that is who the disciples seem to be worshiping in their ignorance. Overall, the mention of multiple different deities and an immortal and holy realm that no mortal will ever be able to access challenges the idea of monotheism and heaven itself. It’s never mentioned if this realm is “Heaven” or not, but the implications of a realm of immortals by itself is a strange new addition to Christianity. Personally, these scriptures served to challenge my own viewpoint on modern-day Christianity. If so many ideas and writings such as these have been lost over time, how much of Christianity as we know is actually “true?” And it becomes even more obscured when man comes into the picture to decide which books become canon or not. In the end, both the Gospels served to present new ideas and understandings of a widely popular religion, and it is obvious why these works could’ve been considered taboo or controversial when they were made (that is, if Christianity then is as it is now).

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