Examples Of Censorship In Huckleberry Finn

The announcement of a new, censored, version of Mark Twain’s classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn sparked controversy across the United States in regard to which version would provide the best educational experience. Even though the revised publication may be more politically correct due to the replacement of the word “nigger” to “slave”, it dampens the milieu of the story. Additionally, the argument for censorship in the novel is flawed considering the social discomfort created from word “nigger” can be used to form an intellectual lesson or discussion. Alan Gribben’s edition of the novel is less literarily enriching because the unnecessary censorship worsens the syntax compared to the original publication. The censorship in the remodeled

While the word “slave” is presented in both versions of the novel, the word “nigger” is only present in the original version. It would be impossible to distinguish between when a character is intending to use a derogatory term or simply referring to their self imposed property. The quotation “I see it warn’t no use wasting words--you can’t learn a nigger to argue. So I quit” (Twain 86) allows the reader to more deeply understand Huck’s stereotypes and thoughts on others. The word “nigger” specifically indicates that Huck has a prejudice on the education of people of color. To replace it with “slave,” it would imply that Huck is only judging physical laborers and people with a low social status instead of a race in its entity. There would an additional misconception when Huck recites the expression “give a nigger an inch and he’ll take an ell” (Twain 95). Twain’s intention was to exemplify Huck’s racial prejudice, but this would be conveyed inaccurately in the republication. A third occasion where the revised version of the book would be contextually incorrect is during Pap’s rant (Twain 34-35). Pap specifically remarks on a free black professor and shows dissatisfaction in his suffrage, referring to him as a “free nigger there, from Ohio”. In the new publication, the sentence wouldn’t contextually make sense since it would imply that Pap hates everyone who isn’t a slave, which is hypocritical considering he’s not a slave himself. Additionally, the change of wording would fail to show Pap’s racism as he would never address his problem with black people in his rant. The altering of the word “nigger” to “slave” in the new publication of Huck Finn would drastically change the meaning and context of situations in the