Criticism In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

When anyone thinks of the United States, most think of bald eagles, apple pie, baseball, and that “’Murica” meme that is popping up around social media; however, not so many think of America’s literary traditions. There is one particular book that can highlight most pieces of American Literature, called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is by a man named Samuel Clemens, who is more popularly known as Mark Twain. Huckleberry Finn is considered the quintessence of American literature, with its frontier setting and independent-minded main character, yet at the same time it is also known as a source of contention and controversy. Right as the book was released, it stirred up debate for various reasons, and it still creates contention

Webster and Company, the book caused a lot of controversy. The initial reasons for contention over Huckleberry Finn were suggested anti-religiousness and challenge to authorities, according to CBS’s 60 Minutes. Anti-religiousness is definitely not a main theme in this reading; however, Huck does seem to be confused by religion, especially in Chapter 3 when he prayed for a fishing line and got it, yet prayed for fishing hooks and could not get them. Huck’s bewilderment seemed to increase when Miss Watson called him a fool for praying for fishing hooks and the Widow Douglas tried to elucidate the purpose of prayer by saying that he could only ask for “spiritual gifts … and never think about myself” (Twain 8). This just goes to show that although anti-religiousness could be understood as occurring in the book, it is not so much anti-religiousness as it is confusion about religion; and that is well understood when you consider the way Huck Finn grew up. Challenge to authority definitely does happen in the book as well, such as Huck running away from his father and the Widow Douglas, but comprehension of Huck’s past is needed in order to see why he challenges authority so much. Mark Twain even points to that fact when he starts off the book: “You don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”” (1). In general, it could be said that the initial

Out of the many issues that Americans have grown more sensitive to, one of the most important is race and its place in society. Race is one of the prime issues of our time due to our history of racial inequality and prejudice, especially with slavery and the Jim Crow era. Many bad things came out of this period in history, both big and small; however, one of the things that came from this era of history and that still bothers us to this day is a single word - nigger. “Nigger” was used during the Southern plantation era to refer to a slave as a spinoff of the word “negro,” but nowadays it is a horrible racial slur. According to CBS’s 60 Minutes, the word “nigger” appears in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 219 times, and it is mostly used to refer to Jim, who is Miss Watson’s slave and Huck’s main companion on the raft. The use of the word has created a lot of controversy in today’s world and has brought up debate as to whether the book should be required reading in school for being a classic or be banned from schools for its language. Supporters of the book say that the use of the word in the book highlights realities in the world of the 1840s and 1850s, and should be looked at in a historical context. Also, many supporters say that children should not be sheltered from this word through censorship, but rather taught about how it is used in the book and