Examples Of Racism In Huckleberry Finn

In “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” written by Mark Twain, a young boy named Huckleberry “Huck” Finn leaves home and goes on an adventure up the Mississippi river. During this adventure he encounters a runaway slave Jim, who is escaping to freedom. Huck is taught of what's right by society, but with experiencing an interaction with a slave makes Huck think differently about what is the right thing. This novel is often targeted as being racist because the word “nigger” appears often and that it shouldn’t be a book to read in schools. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is not a racist novel because of Twain’s realism and the wrong of discrimination. In 1885 critics had different opinions with having multiple articles about this novel. The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine article written by T. S. Perry shows how in 1885 they reacted to it, “His undying fertility of invention, his courage, his manliness in every trial, are an incarnation of the better side of the ruffianism that is one result of the independence of Americans, just as hypocrisy is one result of the English respect for civilization”(Perry). This article shows how this novel is related to society. Twain wrote a realistic novel that

Words in the novel are often misspelled to show Jim’s lack of education. The bad grammar aspect is not what some teachers want to teach students. This is a reason for the novel to not be taught. The word “nigger” is stated multiple times throughout the book and makes some students uncomfortable. It is racially profiling and wrong to acknowledge this behavior to teach to students. Huck is deathly afraid of his father, Pap because he drinks a lot and abuses his son. Huck can’t sleep at night and keeps a gun by his side because he fears that his father will abuse him at any moment. Parents, teachers, and critics believe that it is inappropriate to teach “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” to