Letter To Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

Dear ___,

I believe my shoes are magic. Okay, well maybe not quite magic, but I do believe they are lucky. I have convinced myself that if I wear certain shoes on the days I have quizzes or tests, somehow I will do better on those assignments. I know that it’s kind of an arbitrary thing and a lot of my friends think I’m crazy for believing in it, but it has meaning to me. Even if my shoes aren’t magic (I know, hard to believe), by believing, wearing them helps me, as I have more confidence and experience more comfort. But, my desire for comfort must not blind me to seeing things realistically. For example, I can’t rely solely on my “magic” shoes to achieve a good grade on a math quiz if I don’t study.

At the same time, however, I don’t let

I have recently been thinking about morals and religion while reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain in my English class. I am a current Junior at the Urban School of San Francisco. I know the book is very controversial and has been banned from many schools. It is challenging to read because it touches on many important issues, a prominent one being slavery and racism in America. The book is a satire and brings up racism in a way that most people aren’t very comfortable with, as it depicts slaves as less than human and refers to them with the use of the N-word. What influences the views of slavery in the book and in real life are morals, religion and the balancing act that is experienced when one’s morals and real life experiences are not fully in sync. We’ve talked about these issues in English class, but I thought it would be interesting and beneficial to get your perspective as a professor of religion.

Most people find their morals in religion. I find my morals are based on influences, which is very similar to an organized religion. My arbitrary habits, like wearing special shoes are similar to praying for help from God. I also use my spirituality to help me be a “good” person. I believe that if I am nice and kind and generally good the universe will reward me with good

Huck knows slaves feel “trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom”, as they want to be free (66). However, because slavery had been so ingrained in him and he is scared to see the truth, he never expresses how slavery is wrong. Instead, he uses religion to justify slavery and shield him from uncomfortable thoughts. I can relate to Huck, as I use my own beliefs a little bit to shield myself from the reality of the world. I use my “magic” shoe beliefs for personal reasons, like giving myself comfort by thinking that wearing certain shoes will give me a better test score. I also need to believe there is something, something making sure we are on the right track, to make sure the world is moving in the right direction. There are so many crazy things happening in this world; awful things to good people, good things to awful people, it just seems like things don’t really balance out at times. I need to believe there is some higher power or else I’m scared that all this craziness is for nothing and not to be morbid, but well we are