Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn In High School Curriculum

The importance of Huckleberry Finn in high school curriculum While many critics of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain argue that the book should be censored or even banned due to the heavy racist ideas contained within it, there are actually many positive traits to the novel, and many of the negative aspects are largely benign. While the book certainly does contain many harsh racist themes, it is of no real danger to today’s world or society. Rather, trying to hide the book from high school students, or anyone, could negatively impact social progress today in that it limits accurate knowledge of negative aspects of the past. While the racist ideas can certainly lead to feelings of discomfort or offense, having skilled teachers can allow students to “[ignore] or [render] trivial the things that [cause unease]” (Morrison 153). In addition, it is reasonable to assume that students around the age of seventeen already have relatively solid beliefs and

Although the initial cause of Huck’s adventure is him wanting to avoid being beaten by his father, the main purpose of the adventure is the search for freedom. For Huck, freedom from his father and his family members that are trying to civilize him. For Jim, the adventure is about literal freedom from being a slave. While Huck is never at risk of being captured and used as a slave, his decision to continue roaming the country at the end of the novel shows that he places his own freedom and individuality above what other people expect of him. In Huck’s position, there is an emphasis on him having the choice of what to do with his life, if he wants to stay with Aunt Sally and be civilized, or to move west and continue to roam the country. This conveys the message to the reader that, whether or not they choose to follow society’s norms, it important that they make a conscious choice to do so, rather than simply doing what is