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Why Is Huckleberry Finn Controversial

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The Adventures of Controversial Finn; Racial Edition
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has seen controversy after controversy over its entire lifetime, and in this moment of history, it is no different. The Adventures of Huckleberry, a novel by Mark Twain, revolved around Huck (a white child) and Jim (a black runaway slave) who join together to escape a dark and limiting past. In the late 19th century, when the book was published, it was banned for being deemed as abolition propaganda, while today it is banned in many school districts, nationwide, for its constant and recurring use of the “N-word”. There has been multiple answers to this controversial book, but currently there are three core solutions: leaving the original …show more content…

This seems like the halfway solution between leaving the book in its original form, and completely scrapping the book and replacing it entirely. By replacing the “N-word” with the word “slave”, the entire novel completely loses a grand deal of strength and punch. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is meant to cause a conversation about abolition, and how society has embedded such a morally flawed and disgusting system, which would transcend and taint American values and systems with racism against black people. By replacing the N-word with “slave”, the novel loses the issues about racism, and begins to revolve around only slavery. Of Course, slavery is a gigantic, problematic evil against black people, but it is like criticizing a branch, rather than the tree itself. Mark Twain calls for action against racism, and its spawns as a whole, rather than specifically criticizing one aspect that came from racism. Replacing the “N-word”, will erase its bloody history of slavery, stereotypes, subjugation, and suppression. Nearing the end of the sixteenth chapter, Huck begins to argue with Jim, in which he ends by telling the audience, “I see it warn’t no use wasting words — you can’t learn a nigger to argue. So I quit,” which plays on the racial stereotype that black people are not as intelligent nor capable as a white person to have a coherent discussion (Twain). However, Jim was extremely successful at explaining his side of the argument by using sound and accurate logic. Yet, by replacing the N-word, it cools the book and controversy ten times over, which allows the classroom to feel more comfortable and more willing to receive lessons and values that Mark Twain is trying to communicate with his audience. These lessons include, but are not limited to, society’s impact on an individual's moral compass and the importance of keeping

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Some school districts have banned the book due to the use of the “n word”, the negative portrayal of African Americans throughout the book, and Huckleberry’s distasteful character, which offers a poor role model for youth. However, these misguided administrators misunderstand Twain’s literature because Twain uses the “n word” to spotlight its offensive and dehumanizing nature, the portrayal of African Americans is

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Since this book contains many racial slurs and violence, people want it banned or censored. Although, Huckleberry Finn should remain how it is because altering it changes the impact of the book, people will still be exposed to these slurs, and it is an opportunity to teach readers. The censored version of Huck Finn replaces the ‘N-word’ with the word ‘slave’. This would be an inaccurate representation because they have a

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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.

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After reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I could not understand people 's argument on banning this story that had gone way past it 's time showing the friendship between a black man and a white boy, which was almost unimaginable at the time in many people 's minds, and exposing the worst parts of humanity, showing that we don 't live in a picture-perfect world. While doing some research, however, I had found that most arguments against letting Huck Finn were because of the conspicuous and repetitive use of the n-word, as well as the extreme racial theme that is played out throughout the course of the novel. It all made sense to me then. As always America is again trying to cover up their insightful, but very real history, in hopes that it will be forgotten so that they can go on to be recognized as the

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The announcement of a new, censored, version of Mark Twain’s classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn sparked controversy across the United States regarding which version provides the better educational experience. Even though the revised publication may be more politically correct in the present day, it dampens the milieu of the story. Additionally, the argument for censorship in the novel is weak considering the social discomfort created from word ‘nigger’ can be used to form an educational lesson or discussion. The original edition of the novel provides would be a better a inclusion to an educational curriculum because it includes improved syntax when compared to Alan Gribben’s publication. Dr. Sarah Churchwell of the University of East

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In conclusion, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should remain in schools, the book is useful because it serves as a way to introduce race into a class discussion, the book can bring up “teachable moments” as described by David Bradley in the short clip of 60 Minutes. (Schneider). Censoring books by banning them restrains readers from learning and talking about topics that may be labeled as “controversial” or “explicit”. The “n-word” has a negative connotation due to the usage of the word in the past, it is often correlated with a disrespectful attitude, however this is controversial since David Bradley describes the complexity by comparing and saying “Rednecks can make jokes about rednecks”, this in other words says that one is not “allowed

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Although there has been an overwhelming amount of debates regarding the teaching of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in high school settings, students should still have the opportunity to experience this novel, even if additions or compromises need to be made, because of the story’s historical significance, underlying portrayal of African American dignity, and overall benefits engendered by Twain’s writing. Many argue that African Americans are undermined throughout the story, but the abundance of dignity underlying Jim’s character and the compromises that can be made in the classroom are often overlooked. The most controversial part of the book for many parents seems to be the fact that “it uses the ‘n’ word more than 200 times -- which they say is damaging to their children” (Beckett, Huck Finn’s Fate to Be Decided).

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Huckleberry Finn is great American literature and should be kept in classrooms because the book contains great satire and themes that can provide a great learning experience for students. Having The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn replaced with another American literature will have students left out from the positive aspects of the book such as its themes, symbols, and the unique ways Mark Twain has incorporated them in the book. Having the book not being taught and given to students to understand the true meaning of the book and not so much worrying about the n-word. The n-word is used in the book has a huge effect to why the book is written how it's written, having such a great American literature book be replaced may not open many student’s eyes or logic of slavery.

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In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark twain it demonstrates a relationship between a white boy and a black slave named Jim. Throughout the novel, there is a lot of racism demonstrated in a variety of ways. Many people are complaining about how this novel has a strong use of the N-word and how it is offensive to many individuals and how the novel should be banned from shelves. However, others believe that the use of the N-word is not offensive as it was before during slavery in the old times and it should just be kept in its original form. Another side to this debate would be to support the issue of changing the N-word to “slave” or to keep the N-word to be used throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

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I says to the people, why ain’t this “n” put up at auction and sold?” (Twain 27). These two quotes are great examples of how “n” was used constantly back then and how slaves or colored people were looked down upon by others. Huck didn’t expect Jim to care so much about his family like white folks do, so it surprises him. Many people back then didn’t think that colored people had feelings and that’s why they were so cruel to them and always said harsh things to them.

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The Huck Finn Controversy Ever since the book was published in 1884, the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been making waves all across the country with its repetitive and controversial use of the word nigger and apparent disregard toward the dignity of black people. The argument has been raging on ever since: Should the original and uncensored version of Huck Finn be allowed as a tool to teach our country’s youth about American Literature? My answer to that question is yes, that with a combination of understanding, preparation, and maturity this book could be a very helpful tool in education. One reason I would like to point out as to why we should stay with the original book and not replace them all with censored versions

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This book was never fully understood because people decided to base their view on this book solely on one word. Having the word “nigger” in Huckleberry Finn is one of the biggest teachable moments for students to grow and learn about the era of those parts in history. If you take out everything in the book that causes the teachable moments then you have no teachable moments, no room for your students to grow and learn. Those who have opposed this book never fully comprehended the full story and how Huck grew to understand that the people who have raised him were wrong about their ways

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While there are some books that does replace the word with slave some say it should not be. Some say the 219 times the word is used gets in the way of the true diction in the book while others state it brings out the real way people talked back then. Randol Williams’, a co-owner and editor of NewSouth Books, publishers of the sanitized edition of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn that replaces the N-word with the word "slave." Says that it does censor the book. He states that they are not trying to replace Twain’s original view on the book with his use of the “N” word. The revised version is there for anyone who feels uncomfortable about the original book, but still wants to read it.

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Mark Twain's The adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been the target for many discussions involving racism, and anti abolitionist themes due to the constant use of the N-word throughout the text. Many have thought of banning the book from public school curriculum due to the negative feedback that some students and faculty members tend to be vocal about. However rather than banning the work from schools, information from The Guardian shows the publishers from NewSouth books have created an altered edition. The now altered edition replaces all instances of the N-word with slave so schools don't need to ban the book, but instead use the now safe for work edition. But even still, some schools refuse to allow the novel to enter the English curriculum

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There is a lot of controversy about the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, about the n-word being used in the old version too much and other things to go along with the n-word also. I’m going talk about why both versions should be available because I think the people should have the choice whether they want to read the new version or old version. I think the new version should be used because the colored people take offense the the n-word, and sometimes people don’t realize how bad the word is I think. I also think the new version should be used because I personally think

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