Huckleberry Finn Racism Essay

Racism, the discrimination, and prejudice towards people based on one’s race or ethnicity, through hurtful comments or harsh actions can have an immense impact. With the hopeful understanding that education and awareness can initiate change, society as a whole can begin to accept. In the Southern United States, during the 1850s, the culture of slavery and attitudes of the slaveholders was an accepted practice. Twain's novel, taking place in 1852, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, uses the setting of the Deep South, where discrimination and violence against African Americans are widely recognized. Conversely, during the 20th-century slavery had ultimately been abolished, though discrimination and racism were still rampant. The prejudice in

Ultimately developing a true sense of a white man’s perspective towards blacks. In this novel, racism affects the characters immensely and the view of Negroes is evident as Jim saysz “When they told me there was a State in this country where they’d let that nigger vote, I drawed out. I says I’ll never vote again…I says to the people, why ain’t this nigger put up at auction and sold?” (Twain 1300). This illustrates the attitude toward negroes with a complete disregard of their rights as humans. Consequently, Huck's attitude towards Jim at the beginning of the novel might be viewed as racist. He views Jim as less than a man, uneducated, without ideal viewpoints, and basically a piece of property. This quote describes the lack of respect and rights given to African Americans and their scarcity of representation in governmental offices or justices. Additionally, the reader begins to understand this lack of freedom as Jim, being a black runaway slave “said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom.”(Twain 1342). The reader is able to see the true view of white privilege and the actions and emotions of minorities upon having independence. Jim, Huck’s hideaway slave, was not running away for fun but rather from oppression and enslavement. This emotional response by Jim in