Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned Research Paper

On December 10th, 1884 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was originally published. That was only 19 years after the abolishment of slavery in the United States. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn depicts the struggles and hardships of Huck Finn and his recently enslaved friend Jim. They travel together down the Mississippi river to find freedom and a new life. On the way they encounter many new people and places. Many individuals believe that this novel should be banned from schools and some libraries because of its use of the word “nigger”. Some of the new editions have been censored which caused an uproar. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be banned. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shouldn’t be banned because it teaches many valuable life

One example is when Aunt Sally disregarded the death of a slave on the steamboat crash. “‘Good gracious! Anybody hurt?’ ‘No’m. Killed a nigger.’ ‘Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt’” (Twain 258). These events are things that surely happened in real life and they should not be ignored. By censoring the book they are trying to change history. The word “nigger” has so much history behind it, by censoring it you are taking away the significance of parts of the book. Another example on history is displayed in Huck Finn is when Jim became a free man. “‘They hain’t no right to shut him up! Shove! And don’t you lose a minute. Turn him loose! He ain’t no slave; he’s as free as any cretur that walks this earth!’” (Twain 334). Becoming a freeman was the goal of almost every slave, most of the human rights that they were denied were now given to them. By censoring the word “nigger” they are not changing all the difficulties that the african americans had to face in the 18 and 1900’s. History cannot not be changed but it can be learning