It seems like you missed the whole point. It was written by a black person about the lives of black people and how one mistake (a helpful gesture to a white woman) places him in the most uncomfortable and deadliest position of all. The reader is supposed to feel regret that the main character felt so trapped by the racist stereotypes that existed that he believed he could not explain his way out of this situation. This book challenged the time period it was written in and did for segregation and discriminatory laws what Uncle Tom’s Cabin did for slavery.Many books depict racism, rape and murder, but few do it to stir up the social consciousness of a people to get them to say life should not be this way. Maybe if your teacher had given you more background on the time period, the author and the historical backlash that followed this book and those similar to it (Invisible Man,for one)- you might understand that books like these paved the way for the 1960’s civil rights movement. You might understand the social and political importance of this book. As a black person I find this book neither racist or disgusting, but a regretful, somber picture of what happens in a world where races were not treated equally.

Actually, I doubt the child would be traumatized by reading a masturbation scene. It’s normal for children to masturbate even. And if you read it in high school, then kids that age REALLY won’t be traumatized.

I’ve never read the book, but I thought I should just make that brief point.