Allusions In Huckleberry Finn

The word ‘nigger’ is used 219 times throughout Mark Twain’s novel ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’. This fact, along with Twain’s depiction of Jim and subtle attack on religion, has offended not only multitudes of African-Americans, but also the Catholic Church. Twain’s novel has simultaneously revolutionized American literature and become one of the most frequently banned books in history. ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ was extremely provocative from its very publication, as its themes of rebellion, disobedience, and interracial friendship were thought to corrupt young children. In recent years, debates have no longer centered around Huck’s disobedience but implications of racism and anti-religious allusions. However, when then

Jim is locked up, forced to hide his face in the daytime, and laughed at. Twain was forced to display Jim’s treatment this way to keep the book sincere, despite the fact that it may not be the way Twain personally felt. However, we see that Huck does not treat Jim as most whites do: Huck does not see Jim as a slave; disposable and nameless, but as a friend, with a unique personality. This leads to Huck’s inability to turn Jim in, and Huck’s rejection of societial norms that tell him that blacks are inferior. Huck’s utter rejection of societal norms is evident in the quote “all right, then I’ll go to hell,” (283). In this quote, Huck believes that by not turning Jim in, he will be punished not only by society but also by God. This quote shows why many Catholic institutions have also banned Huckleberry Finn--because Twain aligns religion with supporting slavery. This quote also shows Twain essentially mocking Southern values by showing how it was considered a sin by society to be kind to black people. Not to reiterate this point endlessly, but Twain did this consciously because it accurately represents the sentiments present during this time: Catholicism was used as a means to justify

In response to this. Huck says “Here was this nigger which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children - children that belonged to a man I didn’t even know, a man that hadn’t ever done me no harm” (146). Twain is laying on the irony thickly here, as Huck is clearly disgusted by Jim’’s plans to ‘steal’ his own children. Huck has been so brainwashed by society as to believe that Jim’s very own children are ‘someone else’s property’. While this scene still depicts blatant racism on Huck’s part, it is written in such a way that it ridicules the notion that someone’s children can in fact be the property of a stranger, simply because the father is