Nigger In Huckleberry Finn

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (“Huck Finn”), written by Mark Twain, readers follow the life of a southern child before the Civil War. Although this book is considered a popular and classic piece of American literature, there is much controversy over the language Twain used. Mark Twain used the normal, everyday vocabulary of people in the Southern Civil War Era. Some consider this novel vulgar and disrespectful due to the continuous use of the word “nigger” and other racial slurs. Due to this, there was books published with the word “nigger” replaced with “slave”. This change upset many people, and pleased the other half. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be able to have the word “nigger” because it shows how the Southern people

Slaves were regular humans just like everyone else. In this time period, people discriminated them due to skin color and made them slaves. “Nigger” was a commonly used word in this time, and by omitting this word it is like one is omitting a piece of history along with it. Just because people can now erase the word from the book doesn 't mean they can erase the pain and hardships the slaves faced back then. An example from the novel is, “When they told me there was a state in this country where they 'd let that nigger vote, I drawed out. I says I 'll never vote ag 'in. Them 's the very words I said; they all heard me; and the country may rot for all me—I 'll never vote ag 'in as long as I live.” (Twain, 59) Another example is the First Amendment. The First Amendment gives the people their freedom of speech, press, assembly, petition, and religion. Therefore, Twain has the right to use whatever words he wants in his novel, due to freedom of speech. If one does not approve of the word in the book, they have the choice to buy or not to buy it. In the novel, Huck says shows he has freedom of speech by not telling that Jim ran off. “People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don 't make no difference. I ain 't a-going to tell”

Removing this word is almost like interfering with history. This word shows readers society was completely different back then towards African Americans. This generation has come a long way with equal rights, and this word has taught many readers about the past. Huck was raised in an envirnment where slavery was normal and not a bad thing. But as the story goes on, he realizes what the people of the current generation know, all people are equal. En example of this from the text is, “I never see a nigger that was a better nuss or faithfuller, and yet he was resking his freedom to do it…He ain’t no bad nigger, gentlemen; that’s what I think about him.” (Twain, 531) As conclusion, the word “nigger” should be allowed in Huck Finn without any hesitation. The people who disagree with this word being in this piece of literature do not understand the story whatsoever. The word is used to create a vivid picture of what life was like in the 1800’s, and how people treated others. People commonly referred to African Americans as “niggers”, and without this word in the book people will not understand the Southern Civil War feel that Twain was trying to