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Teaching Huckleberry Finn Research Paper

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The Importance of Teaching Huckleberry Finn

Ever since it’s publishing in 1884, controversy around Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn over racial and social criticism has been discussed to this day. It follows the journey of a runaway boy named Huck and his escaping slave partner Jim on a raft down riding the Mississippi river in search of freedom. This story takes place in the Antebellum period, a time of progress and racial tension and that leads into one of America’s darkest moments, the Civil War. Many schools do not teach this book, or even contain it in their libraries, due to its use of the “N-word” and racial subtexts. On the other hand, many schools teach it as their main curriculum. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn …show more content…

When teachers are explaining the significance and meaning of the book, they need to understand that “even when twain was writing his book, ‘nigger’ was universally recognized as an insulting and demeaning word”, and should not be passed off as acceptable due to when it was written (Smith 107, Carey-Webb 31). The book the “N-word” 219 times, but in the eyes of the author of this paper, it does not come off as being racist only to degrade blacks but more like Twain is criticizing society in that time period. In the story, there are rarely any white characters who are portrayed as good people. Most of the time Huck describes them for their flaws, like his father or the Duke. Meanwhile, he calls Jim the “N-word” only around other white people in order to not look like a “a low down abolitionist” but deep in down, to Huck “that don’t make no difference” (Twain 43). There is strict punishment given to those harboring runaway slaves in the south back then and the fact that Huck does not care and even called Jim his friend after getting to know him, sheds a new light on how people should not be judged for the color of their skin. If students, parents, and teachers look past the layer of racial comments, they may just understand more of the historic significance and social criticism of the

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