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Oppression In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

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Apart from being a significant part of American literature, Mark Twain’s classic book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, displays the deeply ingrained racist mindset of the South in the pre-civil war era. Huck struggles with helping Jim as it has been institutionalized in him to see Jim as Ms. Watson’s property, Huck learns to look at Jim as not merely someone worthless, but as a human worthy of respect and as a friend.
The most evident example of oppression is the n word appears more than 200 times in the book, making it the 4th banned book in schools. Taken as a racial slur in present day, Twain’s use of the word is a reflection of the times. Huck Finn was written when cruel and unjust treatment of black people was a societal norm and saying such an awful word didn’t get so much as a second thought. Nonetheless, saying this such …show more content…

Simply in the portrayal of Huck vs. Jim. Huck is shown as a loyal and clever child, an example of this is when he tells the white men that Jim was his dad and he had small pox so they wouldn't go near the raft. Huck is adventurous and has many good traits, aside from being a little stubborn. Jim is depicted as good hearted, yes, but also is shown as a fool. An example of this is when Huck lies to Jim after they become separated in the raft. This makes Jim look dumb and Jim is hurt by it. Another example is Jim is introduced as “Miss Watson’s big n***er”. He is seen as simple-minded and easily teased. Jim is introduced in a humorous way, to get a laugh from the reader, and Mark Twain could have been modeling Jim after the “stereotypical black person”, but it is hard to tell what intention was. Generalizing a group of people is not fair, and when this stereotype is negative it is a huge burden on the people. Making it harder to go to college , get a job, and find friends. Obviously there are white stereotypes, but they help whites. White people have the advantage and we need to be aware of

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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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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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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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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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According to Raziye Akkoc, a writer for The Telegraph, the American novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [has been banned] because [of] its use of the N-word was not "inclusive" and made students uncomfortable.” Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn is about a young man that travels down the Mississippi river with a slave named Jim, and the many different journeys they encounter. Many people in society, however, have come across the question of whether or not the novel should be banned because of some of the vulgar language in Twain’s work. Even though it includes poor grammar and spelling, Huck Finn is a novel that establishes good morals, true friendships, and demonstrates the true historic time period.

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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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A major theme throughout American history, as well as throughout Huck Finn, is racism. Racism, a topic still raw today, should not be ignored. Jocelyn Chadwick, a Mark Twain scholar, writes, “Twain brings into schools what most of us in this country desperately need, yet fear, most: discussions-frank discussions-about race”. With the use of the N-word and dialogue such as “‘We blowed out a cylinder head.’ ‘Good gracious!

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Modern times challenge Twain’s satirical writing, as it becomes progressively offensive towards racial groups. Many critics and journalists alike debate whether The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be banned in classrooms as it perpetuates racial stereotypes and its unnecessary use of the N-word. “The Case Against Huck Finn”, written by John H. Wallace, is an article that states every point of why the book should be banned in school. One of the authors' thesis is that the usage of the N-word in the classroom severs the relationships between the teacher and black students. John H Wallace writes, “the black child is offended by the use of the word ‘n*****’ anywhere, no matter what rationale the teacher may use to justify it.”

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is controversial and has been debated on being banned, due to its racist character; in reality, these allegations were untrue. Huckleberry Finn is known for the excessive use of the n-word, and many people have reservations about the word being used in the novel. While the n-word is profoundly offensive, “Most of the characters who use the word, including Huckleberry Finn, are racists and it would not be accurate for them to not use the word”(Gardner, 21). This evidence explains the way the n-word has evolved in its use over time. Twain kept his novel realistic to the time period, where that word was said often, and there was not a well-known alternative.

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel that should still be read by all American high school students because of the history, characterization, and Twain’s remarkable growth as a writer. History is important to students everywhere, and Huckleberry Finn is most definitely an example of history. Many people believe that the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ruins the minds of students and that they would “go astray” because of the language, including the “n” word; what many people do not realize is that Twain was using the language that people from that day used.

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Bradley emphasizes that although the “n-word” does have a past to it, it is merely a word that is mostly ubiquitous in the modern society of today and should not be perceived as taboo. Critics tend to disregard that the “n-word” or racism are not the major focus of the novel. On the other hand, supporters believe that the moral development of Huckleberry Finn is majorly the main focus of this novel. For instance, when Huck comes back to the raft he exclaims to Jim, “There ain’t a minute to lose. They’re after us!”

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807 Words | 4 Pages

Even though The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn still remains controversial today, Twain employs the “n-word,” to satirize the white society he lived in and how common racism was towards the freed slaves, even though they were considered free. Moreover, Mark Twain wish to use the “n-word” in his novel because he wanted to illustrate how racism can degrade an individual’s status down to an animal. By changing the novel because it contains an obscene term, one changes the purpose Twain wished to create in his novel, which is considered to be a form of censorship. Clearly, Mark Twain’s use of the “n-word” serves people to see the bigger

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Due to the use of such language, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is accused for being racist. But the author, Mark Twain, himself was opposed to racial segregation and the harsh treatment of blacks. So given his ideals, there must be a reason why he chose to incorporate racial stereotypes and epithet into his story. Mark Twain did not intentionally use racial slurs in order to be racist or for the words to be condoned but rather “the use of such language was intended not only to reflect American life in the South prior to the Civil War but to treat it in an ironic fashion.” ( "Federal Appeals Court Allows Huck Finn to Remain on School 's Reading

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In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the racist attitudes of the Deep South in the late 1800's are shown. Mark Twain portrays a runaway slave, Jim, as a racist caricature who does whatever is asked of him and exhibits little intelligence. The reader can initially see this through the use of the word "nigger" that is all throughout the book. In the modern 21st century this term is taken offensively, but in the 19th century this term was commonly used and Twain took advantage of it.

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Hey, no problem and guess who I ran into yesterday? Mrs. Razyck in the Belleville Shoprite and speaking of her, it was her daughter who told me that you were retiring. Mrs. Hungler was awesome, and I hope she is enjoying her retirement. I ran into her about a year ago in Nutley Library and she told me she was retiring. Speaking of English teachers, I 've also run into Mrs. Graziano and we spent 15 minutes talking about To Kill a Mockingbird. I 'm glad I got a lot of the good teachers before they decided to retire.

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