Lately I’ve been asking friends and colleagues about what novels they remember from their middle and high school days. Despite my insufficient sampling, the survey rendered a useful bit of consensus. Across three generations, “Animal Farm,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Outsiders” were some of the most memorable stories.

This can be attributed to a few factors. The first is simply that those books have been assigned in public schools for generations. Time-tested, old-school methodologies have helped students better comprehend and analyze texts. Moreover, good teachers managed to bring the books to heart, instilling a sense of pride in their students.

For young people, the reading experience is both immediate and formative. Beyond their empathy for main characters, they begin to process greater critical awareness as part of their initiation into adulthood.

They discover that universal themes – overcoming obstacles, loss of innocence, intolerance/acceptance, race/class/rebellion, dystopia/injustice – are not just the stuff of fiction. They are drawn from real life and represent not only struggles of the past, but what is happening today in America.

Our system of government is designed to prevent autocracy. It assumes that for people to be free, they must govern themselves, and doing so requires some sort of consensus – a complex, collective decision-making process dependent on official representation and institutions designed to protect us from our worst instincts. However, a dubious, underlying assumption here is that the people being represented are educated and unselfish enough to participate in the process constructively and fairly.

There is an anti-democratic movement in America today characterized by frustration over the economy and a renewed sense of racism partly fueled by the crisis at the Southern border. For them, the solution to our problems lies in the promotion of bold leadership that promises to punish political opponents and return the country to the good old days.

Many followers of the movement are not well-versed in the mechanisms of democracy; consequently, they don’t fully understand the nature of their wishes. Moreover, there is a cynicism among them regarding intellectualism, along with a happy dependency on a multitude of non-credible internet sources. As blind and loyal subjects of a bombastic and mendacious leader, they render themselves more susceptible to propaganda. By coveting an idealized homogenous past, they become victims of a future where their Constitutional rights will surely be eroded.

The past is not ours to dwell in, and the only way we can visit is through living memory or what has been recorded through literature and art. Such means do not always give fair representations of the past. Memories fade, distort and die with their possessors. Yet they are all we have to work with.

I could neither imagine the vastness of the Russian tundra nor grasp the brutal nature of the Bolshevik Revolution without having seen “Dr. Zivago.” I could never have envisioned the utter horror of trench warfare during World War I had I not read “All Quiet on the Western Front.” If I had not read John Toland’s biography Adolf Hitler I would be ignorant of how the depravity of one man can infect a whole nation and set the world on fire.

I’m not ready to give up on the Constitution or the government designed to protect its principles. It’s my hope that there are enough voters who have, through memory, literature and art, experienced the dire humanitarian crises that come with the rise of dictators.

If democracy fails, there will be no more resurrections of Atticus Finch. The Greasers will remain in their poor and violent place, and the great pig Napoleon will rule the farm.

Pete Howard is a Dunkirk resident who teaches English Language Arts at Northern Chautauqua Catholic School. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com