Why Huck Finn Should Not Be Banned Essay

American literature has always been a form of entertainment and education. When slaves were introduced as characters in books, they were always negative, stereotypical characters, but not until 1883 when Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a change made. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book about a southern white boy in the 1800’s that runs away with an escaped slave on the Mississippi River. For years, schools have been debating on if the book should be banned in schools or not, and it is already on a variety of banned lists. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be banned in schools because it is an anti-slavery novel that teaches students valuable lessons and informs students of the past culture. The Adventures of

With the novel being told in the first person point of view of Huck, we get a first hand experience of the prejudices then. We are able to see just how stereotypical and racist white people were in the past. A majority of the people in the south viewed blacks as inferior, or below them in social ranking. They ordered around their slaves and treated them with little respect at times. Although The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can make students feel “uncomfortable," it is beneficial for students to read it. George Santayana once said, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” Without knowing the mistakes of the past, how can we avoid them in the future? Society needs to be held accountable for its faults so that we do not fall into the same traps of racism and prejudice. When students feel uncomfortable while reading the novel they will realise, with guidance, why what was being done was so wrong. In the video, the man said “Mark Twain used specific language purposely, he did not want his words changed.” Current day music and social media has terrible language and the book is no