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Should Huckleberry Finn Be Allowed In Schools

1654 Words7 Pages

Why Would a Good Novel be Kept in the Classrooms?

A trashy and racist book wouldn't be allowed in classrooms. The novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, has had a lot of negative talk about it since its publication date in 1884. The major problem that students, parents, teachers, and even professors, have had with the novel is the usage of the n-word. After reading the adventurous story, it is hard to find the problem that people are facing. Therefore, this incredible novel should be continued in the high school curriculum because it offers students a realistic historical background, numerous positive reactions, and the meaning of the word nigger, (referred to as the n-word) has changed over time.
The Adventures …show more content…

In the 1800s, the n-word stood for slave and was used to insult the slaves. Twain uses this single word 219 time in his novel! Twain used the word mostly in dialect and used it strongly when the Duke and Dauphin or pap were talking. He used it as a way to show the readers that they are supposed dislike those characters. (FIND IN BOOK PAP’S GOVERNMENT SPEECH) The characters use the word meaning slave, fitting the time period of slaves. Students (AT) believed that the language was appropriate to the setting and to the time period. But, many people disagree and find the word extremely racist and unnecessary. The Pennsylvania State President, Charles Stokes, who apart of the NAACP said “The concerns we have is that to the black child it might be damaging. Also to a white child, or a Hispanic child, those words could be damaging.” Charles Stokes made his point, and stated his thoughts but in all reality, the word is coming back and being used all the time. Kids use it with their friends meaning the word friend. Many “black” people admit to saying the word freely with their friends not meaning as slave. In a “Teaching Tolerance” magazine, printed in 2011, there is an article called Straight Talk About the N-Word. In this article, they talk about the new and upcoming meaning of the N-word, and how often it is being used. It even talks about how people are comfortable with the n-word because they have grown up listening to it in their hip-hop/rap music. But It also talks about how “Black youths are indeed offended by [whites using the n-word].” But what isn’t understandable is how “black” people are openly saying this word but are against it being in The Adventures of Huckleberry FInn. It makes more sense for the n-word to be used in the novel rather than people and music artists using it meaning friend with a background of the word meaning slave. If people have a problem with the N-word being used in a book,

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(Twain 223). Here the “n word” is used to show that African Americans weren’t considered people at all, but property, and the loss of an African American life was viewed as insignificant. The book appropriately uses the “n word” to spotlight the inequitable treatment of African

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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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During Mark Twain’s time it was much different, that was what they called black people. It was written in a dialect natural to Twain’s era, he could not have known that in the future the word would not be politically correct. Some have argued that high-school students are not mature enough to understand the novel’s racial

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Even though the idea is mainly about replacing the “N” word not much would change if you add “slave.” The usage of the “N” word was not meant to bring disagreement and argument but for educational purpose just how Twain intended it to be. Since the book has has been read and analyzed for many years the idea of the “N” word is going to be in everyone's mind so when they are reading the “new” edition of the book the word “slave” is pretty much not going to change much. Both words themselves present a very intense and memorable moment to when African Americans were being used as slaves and were being mistreated. This then brings the concept of racism and people think The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is racist and should be banned for that reason.

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The novels that use the N-word show the history of the derogatory term towards the blacks. The novels create an image in the reader's mind and they learn from the characters action to not act out as a racist. As Terry McMillan says, “The characters in those books make whatever the issue is all the more tangible for the reader. They do what a PBS documentary can't—whether it's talking about Abraham Lincoln or slavery.'' Students that are reading the novels do not know what it was like to live in that time period and may of not realized how blacks were treated until they read the books.

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Nigger. This word was used a total of 219 times in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Some people find the use of this word in mark Twain’s book very insulting, while others say it is a part of literature and it is a part of his book. During the time that Mark Twain wrote America was still very fragile from the Civil War, and that is one of the reasons that so many people were upset about the book, because they were still sensitive to the topic of slavery and racism. No one wanted to deal with the issues that were being brought up in Twain’s writing, so they got angry, and people are still divided today about whether we should censor this book or not.

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When discussing about American history many tend to ignore the unpleasant events from the past. One word, that was commonly used in the past yet rarely used in the present, still causes a sense of discomfort and displeasure when being used. The word has caused many controversial disputes concerning the proper usage of this word. This word is often referred to as the “N-word” and reminds us American of the terrible actions taken place in the past. In remarkable novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, has caused an uproar of the repeatedly usage of the “N-word”.

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is one of America’s classics that takes you through the journey of the protagonist, Huckleberry Finn, and his friend and former slave, Jim, down the Mississippi River before the Civil War. Although this classic book contains all the requirements for a great adventure book that always keep you at the edge of your chair, many American schools decide not to teach or even ban the book in its entirety due to one word: the n-word. The n-word was formally used as a derogatory term towards African-American slaves, but in today’s society, the term is used by the descendants of these slaves as a way to call a friend. Throughout the novel, Twain uses the word 219 times, which has caused great controversy

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Is there even an actual problem with using the word nigger, most teenagers hear it when they are listening to a rap song so it should not be a surprise if it is used in a novel that actually explains our history. Yes, the n-word may affect many people but if it actually affected many people then there should not be any discrimination happening in today's society since it truly affects people, right? But this isn't true since we can see discrimination towards African American. We can see it in the Pretrial Release, “The National Academy of Sciences found that blacks are more likely than whites to be incarcerated while awaiting trial” (HuffPost). This shows us that our society only changed in some ways like not having slaves any more but there are different ocasiones that still show us that racism still exists.

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As an educated reader, one must always be prepared to read anything. Oftentimes, in formal education, students are exposed to banned books because it is considered offensive. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, might be one of the first controversial books students face. Many readers think that this book is truly offensive, however, it should be read. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a valuable novel and should be included in high school curriculum because the overall story is a good read, Twain’s use of characterization is genuinely showed, and the language is simply representative of pre and post Civil War America, is a vital part of the book.

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The word “nigger” has been used in our society for a very long time. It has been used as a derogatory word for a person of color or a black person and a word for a slave. In the story Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain the word Nigger was used 219 times. Huckleberry (Huck) did not use it in a way that was supposed to be degrading towards black people. Pap used it in a way that was supposed to be degrading towards black people.

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The switch of the word nigger for the word “slave” will alter the flow of the novel, and will be almost, but not quite the right word to use. “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter-‘tis the difference between the lighting-bug and the lighting.” -Mark

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A book that’s part of the literary canon shouldn’t make an entire population be uncomfortable or raise up particular issues that aren’t quite resolved yet. After reading Huckleberry Finn, Toni Morrison insists, “Reading ‘nigger’ hundreds of times embarrassed, bored, annoyed - but did not faze me” (Morrison 386). However, one person doesn’t represent the race; many others are uncomfortable with the usage of the word. Books shouldn’t keeping using words that specifically insult people, especially since many distress over the horrible reminders of the past.

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The use of the N word has brought many situations upon readers when coming across it, Rawls describes the idea that there was reasoning behind Twain’s writing. Peter Salwen says, “The great black novelist Ralph Ellison noted how Twain

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In the article, “In Defense of a Loaded Word”, the author Ta-Nehisi Coates claims the use of the n-word should be exercised exclusively among African-Americans. Although Coates claims the word should be used, it shouldn’t be for several reasons. Firstly, the origins of the word came from a very dark time period in America when slavery was yet to be abolished. Second, because of the fact that Coates believes only African-Americans should only use this word and no other race can is a double standard. If, for example, a black person addresses another black person with the n-word, the context of the word is taken as a friendly greeting, but if a white person were to say the n-word to a black person, then the context of the word would change and be perceived as an insult to the black person just because a white person said it.

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