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How Should Huckleberry Finn Be Censored

743 Words3 Pages

Hanna Baker
Mrs. Swiergosz
English 1
4 December 2014
Censoring The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn "Mark Twain's (Samuel Clemens') Huckleberry Finn is so often cited as being racist, when it was written against slavery and racism." Jamey Fletcher said this quote on the extremely disputed matter of one of Mark Twain's greatest masterpieces in history. The subject of censoring The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been a controversial topic since the idea was first introduced to the public. Although the arguments to why the piece should be censored are often well supported, how can we know that we are not taking away elements from one of America's most iconic pieces of literature? If we censor The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, we could as …show more content…

This book proves that not everyone who grew up around racism was cruel, as Huck began to love Jim for who he is, despite the society he grew up in. An example of Huck maturing could come from chapter forty, "I knowed he was white inside, and I reckoned he'd say what he did say - so it was all right, now, and I told Tom I was agoing for a doctor." (Twain 301). This quote clearly shows that Huck is maturing, and seeing past the color of Jim's skin. The book shows us how hard it was to grow up in a racist society and not be racist. Twain's writing cuts deep into the heart of racism, and shows us that it does not matter what we look like on the outside, it only matters what we have on the …show more content…

We know that Twain is not racist, but he did use the N-word to show what kind of people his characters were. Delila Lloyd wrote a document that addresses both sides of the issue, but one of the points that sticks out is "Take the N-word out of Huck Finn, and is it really Huck Finn?" (Lloyd). Huck uses the N-word because he grew up in a society where the word was meaningless, and was used to describe slaves as scum. The word practically means nothing, but not as in the word doesn't have a meaning, but in the sense that the people described as the word are meaningless. A Washington Post writer compared the move to renaming "War and Peace" just "peace" because war is so unpleasant (Cooper). Twain uses this word to delve into the heart and soul of slavery and show how carelessly it was thrown around in the parts of the country that had the most racism. If we deprive Twain of his creativity, we could also be depriving our youth of the history of our

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American literature has always been a form of entertainment and education. When slaves were introduced as characters in books, they were always negative, stereotypical characters, but not until 1883 when Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a change made. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book about a southern white boy in the 1800’s that runs away with an escaped slave on the Mississippi River. For years, schools have been debating on if the book should be banned in schools or not, and it is already on a variety of banned lists. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be banned in schools because it is an anti-slavery novel that teaches students valuable lessons and informs students of the past culture.

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Censoring the N-word in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a terrible idea with many consequences. Changing Nigger to slave only makes it more comfortable for people who can’t face the idea of past slavery. It also obscures view of what Mark Twain was wanting to. Changing the N-word completely disproves his idea of staying true to others dialects. The N-word should not be censored in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it changes the connotation of the entire book.

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Furthermore, the n-word is used over 200 times in the book which puts students in a challenging and uncomfortable position when reading the book. Huck uses the word to belittle Jim and make himself feel superior to Jim. In one instance after playing a trick on Jim, Huck feels bad and it takes him fifteen minutes to "humble [himself] to a nigger" (Twain 89). The n-word is used to degrade people in the story and in the real world and as a result makes people uncomfortable when reading the

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Should the word “nigger” be used in high school literature? That is the tough decision that many high school teachers face when try to decide whether or not to teach The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck Finn uses the n word throughout the book to refer to a friend who is a slave. Even though that word can be very offensive, it is a big part of our history that high school students should be mature enough to learn about. Many students do not continue on to college after high school; therefore, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be allowed to be taught in high school.

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When treated wrongly, he is called the n-word, an even more offensive calling than slave. With this in mind, one can assume that the negative consequences of changing the book and removing the n-word will not only cease the realization of various emotions that the reader is supposed to feel, but will also lead the overall message not being as impactful as Twain anticipated it when writing the book with the n-word. As stated by Larry Wilmore, “Slave is just a job description”. Slave is just a job description, being called a slave means that you are owned by someone and have to work for them, being called the n-word is a sign of disrespect not only towards you but to every colored person in the premise. David Bradley quoted a powerful statement made by Huck in the book which stated, when talking to Jim, “They’re after us”.

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In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark twain it demonstrates a relationship between a white boy and a black slave named Jim. Throughout the novel, there is a lot of racism demonstrated in a variety of ways. Many people are complaining about how this novel has a strong use of the N-word and how it is offensive to many individuals and how the novel should be banned from shelves. However, others believe that the use of the N-word is not offensive as it was before during slavery in the old times and it should just be kept in its original form. Another side to this debate would be to support the issue of changing the N-word to “slave” or to keep the N-word to be used throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

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These reasons show why Twain may have intended to discourage racism. In the novel Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain it is a story of a troubled young boy and his good friend Jim. In the story Twain is not trying to portray racism toward the character Jim but rather is discouraging it. We see examples in the novel where Twain shows how Jim differs from other White men who cheat others, how he describes the white and black symbolism, and shows empathy for Jim.

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Some American school districts have banned Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because of the novel’s use of word “nigger”. The “N-word” is used 219 times throughout the book. (News, C. (2016, October 01).  Different schools approach this topic in a variety of ways. Some schools completely ban the book, others teach the book how it was written but ignore and do not discuss the word, they buy a sanitized version that replaces “nigger” with "slave", or they teach the book saying “nigger”.

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Twain’s books are his art, and he wanted nigger in his books. Like the presence of Jesus, the presence of the offensive word plays a major role in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Taking the word out is disrespectful to Twain as an author. It shows we do not care about his intentions. We are removing something from one of his masterpieces.

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The black man on the back porch is afraid of the rattle snake because it is bad luck, or the innocent little slave is quick to believe everything one tells them at the drop of the hat. These are just some of the many racist stereotypes of the 1840s. A character named Jim is the star African American whom Twain bestoys the mission of being the stereotypical black man to prove a point. He along with his much more pallor companion Huck go on exciting adventures that unfold the events which expose the racist conduct of the time. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain saturates his novel with potent images of acute racism severe enough as to create a satirical mien that exposes the absurdity of prejudice.

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As previously mentioned, this novel is highly opposed because of its extensive use of the “n-word”, as well as the belief that the novel is racist. An example of this notion was when Huck, who was believed to be Tom Sawyer at the time, mentioned to Aunt Sally that the boat he was on “...blowed out a cylinder-head” and “killed a nigger” (Twain, chapter 32). Aunt Polly then proceeds to say “...it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt” (Twain, chapter 32). Due to these accurate yet cruel depictions of society’s view on African Americans, those who criticized the novel believed that the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn “...promotes racism and demeans African American children with its extensive use of the word "nigger"...” (Novels).

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In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain shows us that racism goes deeper than just the hearts of the slave-owners but into the hearts of everyday citizens, white and blacks alike. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain shows how common racism is in society by providing characters that are very against blacks at the time. A term is used throughout the novel that is very demeaning to blacks nowadays. The word “nigger” is used and was very common during Mark Twain’s time.

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Twain used him and his environmental background to connect racism to the relationship between Huck and Jim. Jim was a slave but that does but “nigger” is the correct term to describe him even though the author portrays it in this manner. The relationship between these two characters grew very deep with the progression of the novel but so did the understanding racial differences between the two. In chapter 14, Huck says, “Well, he was right; he was most always right; he had an uncommon level head, for a nigger” (Twain 176). Although this may appear to be a compliment, I felt that the positive aspect of this statement was taken away when Huck lacks the understanding of how rude it is to refer to Jim as some “nigger”.

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Mark Twain is a very famous and respected writer who is often criticized for his racist language and accused of being racist himself, especially with a particular novel. This novel is called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and is about a runaway slave and a young boy’s adventures as they attempt to escape and the young boy, Huck, struggling between his own morals and society’s racist attitude. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not a racist novel because of Huck’s morals representing Twain’s own, Twain’s use of realism in the book, and his positive characterization of slave characters, like Jim. In this novel, Huck has his own moral opinion of Jim as a slave, which represents Twain’s own morals in his real life.

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The colloquial language in the story does just that. For example, “You fellows; taint and ‘taint fair… otha folks has dey rights as well as you” (145). When reading this slang, the audience is able to relate and better comprehend Twain’s central idea about racism because it is spoken in a dialogue that is common to them. It is through language, motifs, and characterization that Twain is able to reach his audience and teach them that although tradition is valuable it is important to be able to have an open mind to new aspects and

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