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Huck Finn N Word Analysis

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Mark Twain’s, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a globally acclaimed novel, praised for his reputable use of satire and its raw authenticity of its depiction of 1840’s “civilized” America. However, controversy arises around this novel as a result of its incessant use of the “n-word” in countless instances throughout the novel. The “n-word”, one of the most notorious words in American history, with its purpose originally to degrade African-American, offends a great number of people every day because of its demeaning connotation. In spite of this, some people accept the usage of this word because they believe it represents the pain and suffering of their past and what their ancestors were able to overcome. In regards to The Adventures of …show more content…

He educates students about the beliefs, practices and attitudes of the South. Twains intention is not to be politically accepted by everyone who reads his book, but he rather invites readers to think about things that are very hard to look at and didn’t shy away from Huck’s flaws and small-mindedness. For example, at a point in the novel, Huck has to decide whether or not to return Jim to his “rightful owner” or going to hell, for stealing Jim from slavery. This episode is a crucial part of understanding the attitudes and the moral beliefs of civilized people in the south during this time period. However, some believe that because the racial epithet, such as the “n-word”, offends people, it should not be a part of the teaching curriculum. Some argue that Twain was a racist and this novel was written to support the degradation of African-Americans. In opposition, the social dialect of a country and what is considered politically acceptable evolves close to every 100 years. To say every time an offensive phrase is present in a novel, it should be removed from a curriculum, that would require that every century, American literature would be

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I also, dislike the use of the N-word. By using the N-word, Mark Twain allowed Jim Crow and Redemption to sweep the South. When writing Huckleberry Finn the author should had utilize his rights as a citizen to write, instead Mark Twain choose to ignore the amendments by using the N-word. How does a writer give his character a conscience when he as the writer chooses not to be conscience about addressing his black character

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943 Words | 4 Pages

Some school districts have banned the book due to the use of the “n word”, the negative portrayal of African Americans throughout the book, and Huckleberry’s distasteful character, which offers a poor role model for youth. However, these misguided administrators misunderstand Twain’s literature because Twain uses the “n word” to spotlight its offensive and dehumanizing nature, the portrayal of African Americans is

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1255 Words | 6 Pages

Many books have been censored or banned in libraries and schools across the United States because of their suggestive or inappropriate content. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a sequel to the popular The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is one of the books that are being illuminated as “unfit to read”. It is the story a young boy, Huck, and a black man, Jim, in the 1800s, who ran away and their journey across the Mississippi River. It is a controversial piece in a majority of the classrooms across America. In this book, the N word shows up over two hundred times (Here's Why Banning 'Huck Finn' Over The N-Word Sends The Wrong Message).

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526 Words | 3 Pages

In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, he utilized diction to illustrate the change in Huck’s view on slavery and more specifically, Jim; from believing that all slaves are subhuman and ignorant to befriending and respecting Jim as his equal. Incidentally, one way that Twain used diction to highlight such change in Huck was in his choice and usage of the word “n*****”. Considering this, in Chapter 16, Huck habitually uses the n-word to refer to Jim rather than calling him by his name. Huck also utilizes phrases such as , “Give a n***** an inch

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724 Words | 3 Pages

After reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I could not understand people 's argument on banning this story that had gone way past it 's time showing the friendship between a black man and a white boy, which was almost unimaginable at the time in many people 's minds, and exposing the worst parts of humanity, showing that we don 't live in a picture-perfect world. While doing some research, however, I had found that most arguments against letting Huck Finn were because of the conspicuous and repetitive use of the n-word, as well as the extreme racial theme that is played out throughout the course of the novel. It all made sense to me then. As always America is again trying to cover up their insightful, but very real history, in hopes that it will be forgotten so that they can go on to be recognized as the

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1267 Words | 6 Pages

Mark Twain, author of Huckleberry Finn, uses the n-word a total of two-hundred nineteen times in his book. Before diving into the subject matter, the book called Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a novel set before the Civil War following the journey of a young boy named Huck. Huck struggles to escape his abusive father and takes to the Mississippi river alongside a black man named Jim. Jim, himself, struggles to gain freedom and escape enslavement. This novel would be considered a serious offense to an individual who has a closed mind about the matter at hand and has not fully understood when this book took place.

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743 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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233 Words | 1 Pages

In conclusion, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should remain in schools, the book is useful because it serves as a way to introduce race into a class discussion, the book can bring up “teachable moments” as described by David Bradley in the short clip of 60 Minutes. (Schneider). Censoring books by banning them restrains readers from learning and talking about topics that may be labeled as “controversial” or “explicit”. The “n-word” has a negative connotation due to the usage of the word in the past, it is often correlated with a disrespectful attitude, however this is controversial since David Bradley describes the complexity by comparing and saying “Rednecks can make jokes about rednecks”, this in other words says that one is not “allowed

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1195 Words | 5 Pages

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, is a book in which captures the adventures of a young boy named Huck Finn who runs away from home and makes his way down the Mississippi River in which he meets a runaway slave named Jim, together they undertake serious of adventures. This piece of literature has left many of its readers shocked and angry due to the extensive use of the n-word. In Huckleberry Finn, the n-word is used over 200 times which has led many schools to ban the teaching of this book or simply replace it with another classic American literature. There is always two sides of a story, in this one there is three. The argument continues with the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn whether it should be kept

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Alana Haggar Vande Guchte Honors English May 15th 2023 To Kill a Mockingbird We all wonder what it was like to live in the past. The culture, the foods, the society, everything.

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162 Words | 1 Pages

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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1632 Words | 7 Pages

Chapter 2: Women in the workplace: The New Era Women From The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Parks and Recreation. The Mary Tyler Moore Show Women in the 1960’s was limited in all aspects of her life from family and home to the workplace. A woman was expected to set out on the path that was created for her. Even if women were lucky enough to have a career, they were limited to a job as a nurse, teacher or a secretary and at the time there was only 38% of women who held a job in America. In 1962, Betty Friedan released the book The Feminine Mystique describing the frustration of a generation who felt unfulfilled and trapped.

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1442 Words | 6 Pages

The word “nigger” in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, connects the story of a young boy and his journey through the south with a racist southern society that has a negative effect upon the people who call it home. To use the word “nigger” as a reference to the black race, means they have submitted to the mindset of the south. The effect of the racist ideals are so massive that even slaves raised in the South believe they are lesser than the white race. The word “Nigger” negatively influences the everyday life of the Antebellum south, the church, and the mindset of Huck Finn, a boy fighting the conformist life forced upon him.

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1578 Words | 7 Pages

Twain uses this novel to share the many different dialects of that time and also to confront historical problems like slavery and racism. Although it is clear that Twain was showing history and the many dialects in his time, many are offended and do not see it this way for example, "Novelist - photographer Julius Lester, who in an essay completely ignoring the n-word controversy excoriated Twain and declared AHF [Huck Finn] was immoral in its major premises, one which demeans blacks and insults history, and that in essence it is a dismal portrait of white male psyche. "(qtd. in Fikes 241) On the contrary, to Lester’s opinion Huck Finn does not insult history but actually addresses history. Whether Lester knew this fact or not but history says that blacks were not allowed to be

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917 Words | 4 Pages

Students should learn about the value the novel provides from that time-period in which Mark Twain wrote, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain put the N word in the novel for a reason, to describe the time-period in which these events had occurred. Phillip Rawls writes, “‘It’s such a shame that one word should be a barrier between a marvelous reading experience and a lot of readers,’ Gribben said. Yet Twain was particular about his words.”

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