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Should Huck Finn Be Taught In Schools

1272 Words6 Pages

Imagine being thirteen years old, and traveling down the Mississippi River with only a friend who is discriminated against because of his skin color. Most readers could not imagine this if it was taken out of a school’s curriculum. The book is controversial due to its use of the word “nigger” 219 times, and some educational systems want the book out. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an important novel of literature that should be included in high school curriculum because it is Twain’s specific diction, educates people on racism, and it reflects on the history of this time. Mark Twain’s writing style should not be changed. Twain wrote the way he did for a reason. In Martha Moore’s article, Jones tells their opinion of Twain’s …show more content…

Paula Leider recalls her thoughts of the treatment “His treatment of Jim as an allegory of the way the nation dealt with freed slaves, not taking their role in society seriously and engaging in destructive and deadly racism.” People of this time in the south agreed with slavery. Most of the people owned slaves themselves, and did not treat them like they meant something in society. Twain hits this topic forcefully in the book, clearing showing how people felt about Jim. Twain references the word when describing how a person would talk about an African American in this time,”No’m. Killed a nigger. Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt.” This is how people felt about African Americans in this time, and is was common to talk this way about them. Huck was the wild card growing up in a racist community. Huck has the slang of this time to his advantage to describe African Americans, but as he grows closer with Jim, he stops using offensive terms. Sally Hansen explains in the article of the history in the novel saying how the author would inform the reader of the time period that takes place and the language that is used. Hansen continues to direct the point that Twain uses Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a novel that depicts this history clearly. Twain’s has points of using this novel in the classroom, there are also reason the novel is uncomfortable, and should not be in the

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163 Words | 1 Pages

For the reason that the n-word appears 219 times in the novel, many schools have decided to ban the book in their classrooms. Cautiously questioning students whether or not the novel arouses an “uncomfortable” (Coeyman) feeling, teachers debate on teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Multiple teachers feel that their inter-racial classes may include students who feel offended by the n-word. Various schools have considered the novel to be “...too racially offensive…”(Coeyman). For instance, school districts in Virginia have banned the book after a mother complained about how her son was disturbed by the “‘...racial slurs in there and offensive wording that you can’t get past…’”(Balingit).

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560 Words | 3 Pages

Jeannette Walls depicted an epoch of misfortune and adversity in her memoir, The Glass Castle. Jeannette and her 3 other siblings were all in a constant struggle to survive. Rex and Mary, the parents of Jeannette and her 3 siblings, were often in a constant dichotomy between submitting to self-interest and supporting the family. Having misfit parents, Jeannette and her 3 siblings were often independent and left to fend for themselves and for the family as a whole. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls evolved the theme of ideal versus reality throughout her memoir though her countless anecdotes of her father and his unattainable plans to find gold and to build a home, named The Glass Castle, for his family and her mother’s dream to become a professional and well redound artist.

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After reading this adventurous story, it is hard to find the problem that is upsetting many people. Therefore, this incredible novel should continue to be in the high school curriculum because it offers students a realistic historical background, it receives numerous positive reactions, and the meaning of the word nigger, (referred to as the n-word) is changing over time. 5 sentences The Adventures of Huckleberry

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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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901 Words | 4 Pages

The uses of satire, the time period, and friendship reveal Twain’s unprejudiced views achieving its place in the curriculum. The glimpse of history Twain provides with slavery and society is very important to understanding of the novel and its overall messages important to the curriculum. This remarkable narrative has many examples of realism and literature elements important to the learning the history of literature. One of America’s most prominent and informational works of literature ever written Adventures of Huckleberry Finn must stay in the high school curriculum

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1456 Words | 6 Pages

In 1998, McClintock High School in Tempe, Arizona assigned students to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The book has long been regarded as a controversial novel, and each generation that comes upon it has found something that rubs against the current societal norms. The mother of a student at McClintock took serious offense to the use of the word, “nigger” throughout the book and protested that it be banned due to the racial discrimination (Source I). Huck Finn is just one of the many pieces of literature that have been labelled “challenging,” and many feel that they do not deserve a place in schools’ curriculum. However, the study of challenging literature introduces students to new ideas and lessons that they can apply

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620 Words | 3 Pages

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, why this book written by Mark Twain should be on the banned books list in schools and why it is too mature for it’s students. This book is full of situations that honesty students are not able to handle, leaving inappropriate impressions about racism and how to treat people and is going to cause teenagers and young adults to repeat the language and personalities seen in this, to other groups of this century that are fitting now The problem with Adventures of Huckleberry Finn isn’t that it is a bad book, not that maybe it is poorly written or isn’t a learning experience. The fact of the matter is that students do not hold the attention span or mental capacity to be forced to deal with this. While some may use to excuse that high school students may have enough knowledge over these situations, or if explained, people would enjoy the moral of the story more, that is not always the case.

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828 Words | 4 Pages

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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743 Words | 3 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.

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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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768 Words | 4 Pages

What they weren’t able to see, however, is the fact that Twain portrayed one of the main characters, Jim, as an upstanding and respectable man which demanded more dignity and admiration for the African American people than what might have been interpreted from the outside. Many believe that Jim “is the moral center of the book, a man of courage and nobility, who risks his freedom -- risks his life -- for the sake of his friend Huck” (Is Huck Finn a Racist Book?). Not only Jim risking his freedom, but Jim’s actions throughout the entire story made his morals and good nature prevalent. These actions created a sense of dignity and respect for the African American people, which was not originally displayed due to the historical setting. Even if these underlying concepts are not transparent to students and parents that feel violated, there are many modifications or alternatives available to preserve the experience of reading this novel

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198 Words | 1 Pages

Throughout history book censorship has been a widely discussed topic among educators, authors and people the general public. Many believe by censoring or banning a book is the way to go because it will avoid the uncomfortable feeling that goes along with the text. By changing the book itself the message goes away and the true meaning behind the book dissolves into a lesser value. I believe that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, should be continued to be taught in schools and classes, and that the novel itself should remain unedited.     Huckleberry Finn was written in 1883 but the setting of the book took place in the south during the 1830’s a time where slavery was still prevalent during history.

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1046 Words | 5 Pages

I says to the people, why ain’t this “n” put up at auction and sold?” (Twain 27). These two quotes are great examples of how “n” was used constantly back then and how slaves or colored people were looked down upon by others. Huck didn’t expect Jim to care so much about his family like white folks do, so it surprises him. Many people back then didn’t think that colored people had feelings and that’s why they were so cruel to them and always said harsh things to them.

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1818 Words | 8 Pages

It also depends on the reader to truly listen to what the novel has to say. If these requirements are met, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an irreplaceable, monumental novel that deserves its place in the classroom. As said by Morrison herself, “Huckleberry Finn, chosen randomly without guidance or recommendation, was deeply disturbing (Morrison 385). ” When a student works with Huckleberry Finn in an adept classroom (one that maintains the level of maturity and intelligent insight to truly understand the novel), it prevents them from reading it alone and being unaware of its true meaning.

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537 Words | 3 Pages

At the time that Prince Albert’s speech was reaching the London people, Victorian England was already forming. England was becoming remodeled in numerous ways, starting with the fact that there was a new ruler on the English throne, Queen Victoria (Albert’s wife). Prince Albert addresses these changes in his speech at the Great London Exhibition of Art and Industry, focusing the most on this idea of “the realization of the unity of mankind”(Prince Albert, 1851). The realization of the unity of mankind is in essence the fact that Prince Albert felt that at this time, more than any other time in European History, the European people are joining together and both ignoring and embracing differences between them, becoming united or “as one”. He describes it in such a way here; “not a unity which

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