Many say it’s a classic, that it’s the root of all American literature. Others call it racist and unfit for their child to read. Such connotations of Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, exemplify the controversy at hand: whether or not schools should ban the book. The racial stereotypes present in the novel along with the constant use of the “n” word have caused critics and parents to question its morality. Should students be exposed to the truths of the old south? To the way many of our grandparents used to think and act? To move forward, we must learn from our past, and read Twain’s “masterpiece” between the lines, not word for word. The “pure American” (Will 92) voice of Huck tells a story embedded with important lessons and deserves to be heard just as much as the voice of Scout or Nick Carraway.
In 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” in which he lays out what exactly encouraged his leadership. King was arrested while peacefully protesting against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. His letter was a response to a statement called “A Call for Unity,” written by white clergymen of Birmingham. He was simply defending his practice of nonviolent resistance and carrying out the practice of civil disobedience. The problem at hand was obviously segregation. King argues that people have a moral responsibility to go against unjust laws. King reveals this position through his language. He uses repetition
...on and kindness to a fugitive slave and helps him escape from his captors. He didn’t care what would happen to him as a result of this decision; he even lured the Slave hunters away from the raft where Jim was hiding. This story encourages us to not judge a book by its cover, or the color of someone’s skin. Huck sure didn’t.
Much like how society influences views on the novel, society influences huck throughout the novel. The timezone of the book is before the American Civil War. The way of life was based on slaves in the south, and the start of Industrial Revolution in the north. The country had just started to split between free slave states and slave states. The class system much like today was based off of material possessions. It went rich, middle class, poor working class, poor white trash, and slaves . Huck’s father was in the poor white trash area. Who was racist against the african americans because they were going to pass him in social class. Such as “ ‘I ain’t never in my life been beholding to no nigger’ says finn” (Clinch 37). As far as Pap was concerned the african americans had no right to take the power he had away. Here is the world Huck lives in. He has influences from his father, and from his adopted parents Miss Watson and Widow Douglas. Huck was satisfied with what he has, and does not want to reform the way Miss Watson and Widow Douglas wants him to. They want Huck to be proper and have a high society life. As well as to be proper was to be well educated and have fancy material possessions. “ I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead ag...
The society Huck is in has strict laws and restrictions including serious issues of slavery and race. Huck knows this society has little tolerance for people that criticize slavery and has been taught to never be seen being friendly with a slave. He grew up
...as he must be white inside. This shows how in his mind, white is good and black is bad, but since Jim is black and he is doing something good, then he must be white. Huck’s experiences and surroundings change him day by day. Even though Jim is black and he hasn’t changed, Huck has changed and now recognizes Jim as a human being and not as property.
During Huck’s adventure with Jim, he came across many people that were against colored people. For example Huck meets two men attempting to capture slaves, “Right then along comes a skiff with two men in it with guns” (Twain 89) At this point Huck starts to feel a special bond with Jim, therefore Huck made a sinful decision by lying to the men. From this point in the story, readers are able to tell that Huck is starting to develop. Robert Reese mentioned in his article “Should Huck be on the shelf” that “Friendship does not need to be banned from our society” (Reese) He is claiming the fact that the main point of the story is promoting friendship not racism. Throughout the novel, satire is being utilized. As the audience can visualize, Huck is developing this unselfish act of kindness which is amazing for a young boy. He overcomes the idea that Jim is a “Nigger” and develops a bond like no other. While Huck is having an adventure of his life, other people in the society attempts to keep the racial discrimination going. For example, towards the end of the book Jim is captured by Silas Phelps. In the novel one man said “It was an old fellow- a stranger- and he sold out his chance for him for forty dollaz..” (Twain 211) In this part of the story, the audience can see that the slaves are treated as material objects, and this is morally wrong. Only Huck
Race is the most prevalent theme in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. Huck’s dependence on Jim is
...evailed over the “traditional” thinking of the Deep South; Huck came to see “blacks” as people too.
Although Twain sets his novel in the pre-Civil War South, the society in which he resided still was largely of the notion that blacks were not of the same species as whites. Twain uses his novel as a symbol of this fact, and uses Huck as a symbol of what needs to happen in the hearts of all white people: realize the humanity of blacks. The strongly held belief that black people were not even people at all is evident in one exchange between Huck and his 'Aunt Sally.' In responding to Sally's question of if anyone was hurt in the explosion of the steamboat Huck was on, Huck tells her, "No'm. Killed a nigger" (Twain 213). To this, Sally exclaims that it is lucky, beca...
His father did not want the best for him but yet the same, or for Huck to be worse off, uneducated, never sober, and as huge as a racist as himself.
Even at the beginning of the novel, before Huck has gotten an opportunity to explore what he feels is right, Huck is growing tired of dealing having society and what culture thinks is right and also civilized. Huck says, "The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me...I got into my old rags and my sugar hogshead again, and was free and satisfied “(Twain 1). Huck prefers living free and having the ability to think what he wishes, rather than being “sivilized”. When Huck escapes from the surrounding society, at Jackson Island Huck runs into Jim and he is very happy to see him. Later Huck takes on a mean trick with Jim. He kills a rattlesnake and puts it on the foot of Jim’s comforters. Huck expects that Jim will react like almost any stereotypically, foolish, black man or woman. But Jim is not really a stereotype, and the joke becomes bad when Jim gets bitten through the snake’s mate. This tests Huck’s morality. Huck senses ashamed for what he did, but does not take responsibility for not understanding that Jim is a human being. This situation shows Hucks immaturity early in the novel.
Another interesting point is that has the author deliberately portrayed Huck a white boy in poor light? Huck is white yet lives in abject poverty. He has no inclination to learn and strive for the American Dream that his countrymen stress on as a measure of success. In fact, we see the characters ‘savagery’ with the way he sleeps and eats at odd times and with the unhygienic conditions he so proudly presents himself to the reader. Wasn’t this savage way of life attributed and limited to the black oriental? Weren’t the white supposed to be structured and black the complete opposite? The reader reading this description of Huckleberry Finn when the two novels would have been published must have been astounded as to how a white author could vilify a white character in such a manner. Was Huck Black?