Censorship Of Huck Finn

In Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain, a satirical novelist, portrays Huck, the main character of the book, who has adventures with Jim, a slave, who must deal with the problems of slavery in society and eventually isolate themselves from what they believe to be a repressed society, which leads to the discussion of whether or not the book is appropriate to students. The controversy between the two debates is that people say that the book harms others from the foul language that it uses and also if the depiction of racism, but what critics do not understand is that the book is a satirical novel, which means that the text isn’t suppose to create opinions. It causes people to believe that racism is the major topic in

In Joan Smith’s article “Lessons of Huck Finn” from a San Francisco Gate series, Joan Smith, an examiner book editor, clarifies that people don’t want their kids to read a book that requires them to reconsider the past, while others acknowledge that the past can’t be changed and that people can’t hide from what has happened. In his article, he writes, “This is how you are, like it or not.” And that’s why this book is painful and significant. Because it’s what he is still telling us today” (Smith). Smith is acknowledging what Mark Twain had explained to those who criticize his book, and explain to them that history can’t be forgotten; society must accept what happened in society and also teach others decision making. In addition to why the book should be taught, in his article, he mentions how the book has multiple topics in the book other than just racism. In his article, he writes “...a book the evils, not only of racism, but of ‘the terrible gap between the Christian ideal and the vicious version of Christianity that dominated the world Twain grew up in’” (Smith). Smith is acknowledging that the book has a variety of topics other than just racism; that it portrays how Huck handles a society where religion has been implemented in society. Joan Smith portrays the book as a novel that gives the reader a sense of what life like during the time of slavery, yet demonstrating different aspects besides racism. He is portraying that the book should be taught and that since it is a “satirical novel” that it shouldn’t be taken seriously, but still understand the fact that the book explains our society. Similarly, to what Smith mentioned in his article how