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How Should Huck Finn Be Banned From Schools

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“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, written by Mark Twain has been a major debate on whether or not the book is racist and should be banned from schools. Mark Twain’s theme of slavery and racism in this book is showing the readers that slavery is wrong, and how big of a problem it used to be in the South. Many people have different perspectives on this novel. In the book, the word “nigger” is used several times, and many people find it very offending and racist. These people believe that no matter how or why it's used that it is racist, and should never be said. This is not a good reason to believe the book is racist, because this is how blacks were referred to back then. To have used the word Negro or African-American would have taken …show more content…

The examples of the way Jim is denigrated: by being locked up, having to hide his face in the daytime and how he is generally insulted, are necessary for historical accuracy. Twain also never presented Jim in a negative way. He presented Jim as kind, had the most common sense, and friendly. “I couldn't seem to strike no places to harden me against him, but only the other kind…..he would do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was.” (Mark Twain 262). Jim was always the most kindhearted, but Mark Twain had to display the way Jim was treated in this manner, even if it is not the way he felt. Huck, however, does not treat Jim as most whites do. Huck looks at Jim as a friend, and by the end of their journey, disagrees with society's notion that blacks are inferior. Critic Justin Kaplan says, “Huck eventually recognizes slavery for the wild thing it was, and follows the dictates of his sound heart and commits a sin by helping Jim run away” (Justin Kaplan 315). Twain purposely made Huck the main character, to show that he doesn't believe in slavery or racism. In this book Jim has one of the few functional families in the novel. It's the thought of a permanent separation from his family that prompts him to escape. It's Jim's love for his family that affects Huck so strongly, causing him to realize that a black man is capable of loving his family as much as a white man. Jim is one of the most

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