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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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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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When the King and Duke steal the fatherless sisters’ money and are deciding where to temporarily store it, the king says, “First you know the nigger that does up the rooms will get an order to box these duds up and put ‘em away; and do you reckon a nigger can run across money and not borrow it? “ (Twain 181). Twain exemplifies people’s stereotyping and discriminatory treatment of African Americans that comes with the “n word” throughout the novel, as well as the shocking nature of the word’s use. The “n word” is similarly used to dehumanize African Americans and make them seen as subhuman, shown by Huckleberry speaking to Tom’s aunt about why his ferry was delayed:“‘It warn’t the grounding—that didn’t keep us back but a little. We blowed out a cylinder-head.’

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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 article “Rethinking Race in the Classroom” by Allison Samuels, explains the controversial topic, if race related novels or topics should be taught in today’s classrooms due to the overuse of the N-word. English teachers have voiced their opinion on what they think about the use of the N-word in the novels. Novels such as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and “Of Mice and Men” use the N-word substantially and teachers question if they should be teaching it in their curriculum. Teachers say that these novels should not be taught in schools because the use of the N-word. However, teaching the novels in class can be a gateway for students to learn about the history of the N-word, how the meaning has changed over the years, and how blacks were treated.

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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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While on the raft, Huckleberry Finn rarely used the “N-word” when speaking with Jim which shows how Huckleberry Finn is beginning to view Jim as a regular person. By showing this transitions, Twain shows the readers how one judgements of other could be wrong. By keeping the book in its original form, the audience will be able to witness the significance of the “n-word” and how life in the South impacted usage of this word. Huckleberry Finn eventually overcomes the prejudice of racism and eventually respect Jim as a

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Why Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned In Schools

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We are letting the word change a classic book into a book filled with controversy. There is even a company that makes the book without the word, changing it with the word “slave.” But even that won’t do, even if we ignore the fact that the word is making us change our literature, it doesn’t work in the context of the book in the quote “Niggers would come from all around there and give Jim anything they had, just for a sight of that five-center piece;” they use the N-word to describe free black people. But since they are now called slaves it doesn’t make as much sense and the whole meaning of the sentence is askewed. One of the main reasons people want to change/ ban the book is to forget the

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Should Huckleberry Finn Be Allowed In Schools

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The fictional, satirical novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain in 1876 has become popular over 125 years of it being written. The novel has become famous for many different motives but the main reason being the number of times that the word “nigger” is used, the word is used 219 times. Back in the 1950s, many white and black parents called this novel out for being “racist”. “Today there are school districts in America that ban this American classic for one reason-one word: “nigger,” a word so offensive it's usually called the “N-word”(Debate). In my opinion, It makes no sense that the book is getting banned from schools.

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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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It is thought that the teaching of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in high schools seems to result in some controversial outcomes amongst different audiences and readers. In result to this thought, the novel has been removed from assigning in many schools because of the content. One of the main and largest issues arising from the novel would be that Mark Twain accounts and savages for more examples of racism in his novel as in any American document known. The primary conflict for the banning and withdrawal of the American novel is it's use of the word "nigger", as in referring to African American slaves. For the reasoning that the storyline is set in a different time, specifically, the 1840's before the civil war, the whole moral and outlook on life was different than now.

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Twain may say that it is masterful use of the Southern dialect, but it doesn’t change that it consistently insults blacks many times. While reviewing Huck Finn, David L. Smith states, “This usage, like the term ‘nigger stealer,’ clearly designates the ‘nigger’ as an item of property: a commodity, a slave” (Smith 365). ‘Nigger’ does not only rudely refer to blacks, but it also belittles them and treats them like a piece of furniture. It symbolizes the lack of freedom a slave has and some may associate treating ‘niggers’ in Huckleberry Finn as acceptable for blacks. Twain indirectly encourages the despicable emotional and mental abuse of blacks, clearly not supporting the sentiments of blacks and

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Students should learn about the value the novel provides from that time-period in which Mark Twain wrote, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain put the N word in the novel for a reason, to describe the time-period in which these events had occurred. Phillip Rawls writes, “‘It’s such a shame that one word should be a barrier between a marvelous reading experience and a lot of readers,’ Gribben said. Yet Twain was particular about his words.”

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The first use of the “n” word was recorded in 1587. The word is derived from the Latin word niger or nigreos, the Spanish and Portuguese word negro, and the French word négre, all meaning black. Everyone has heard the saying ‘Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me’ this saying is false. The “n” word has been used to offend black people during

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